If you have a bees nest that needs removing then it is possible to remove the nest without harming the bees, in what is known as a cut-out. Firstly check that the bees are indeed honey bees. There are 4 most common bee-like insects that often make homes in our houses and gardens.
- Honey Bee: Brown and black see the image above. These will damage things if left unattended as you could end up with a HUGE nest with thousands of bees and Kg’s of honey dripping through your walls.
- Bumbles: Fury balls of fluff with white, red or yellow bottoms. These often nest in walls or trees or the ground. They are docile and non-aggressive and live in small colonies they do no damage and can be left till July when they take themselves away. Best bet to leave them. I can re-home them if desperately needed, either to a quieter part of your garden or to mine. In general however re-homing does not bode well for them so they are best left alone if at all possible
- Red Mason Bees: similar to the honey bee but with a red tint to their tops and yellow undercarriage. These are chilled and docile living in the walls and can just be left till the winter when you seal the hole if you don’t want them to come back the next year.
- Yellow jackets or wasps. This is a job for pest control.
Removing an established Honey bees nest will take a lot more time and resources than a swarm. The aim is still the same but the process required cutting into the housing and removing the nest along with all the bees.
Swarm Collection
I will collect swarms of honey bees for FREE. See my swarm collecting page. These should be balls of bees or accessible lumps of bees such as in this photo. The value of the bees is payment enough.
If however you have an established colony or a swarm that is really hard to reach then you need a cut out or a trap out. Cut out projects can take many shapes. From a small hole and some smoke to a full deconstruct of the building. First step is to have an inspection and come up with a plan so do give me a call and I will advise you on the best route forwards. For a non swarm collection call out there is a small charge.
The use of ladders or crawling through lofts etc will require additional charges. Mostly because I pay upfront for insurance and have specialist equipment that is needed as well as my time and experience.
Leaving a colony of honey bees unchecked could be very bad for your building as you could end up with honey dripping down your walls.
Classic Cut Out:
With access to the nest I can hover the bees up. Removing all the brood and the placing it in frames to keep the colony going. Removing all the honey to prevent pests. This can be a difficult and sticky process but is quicker than the following trap out concepts. Please note my insurance is not that of a builder so I cannot be doing building contracting work. If building work is required to access the bees then a builder needs to do that work.
Trap Outs:
For some cut outs where you don’t want to damage the building, the best is to take your time. You can trap them out using a hive with a tube attached. You close off the entrance that they are using except for down a tube. You then connect the other end of the tube to a hive with some drawn out comb and force them to come and go via the other hive. They will soon realize that the hive is perfect space and hopefully move into the hive, vacating the wall. Takes a while but is very effective. My first colony of bees was actually trapped out of an old compost bin that was too heavy to move. We duck taped a hive on top of the compost bin and allowed the bees to rise by themselves.
In general this will take a few weeks of the hive to move including the queen and then 21 days to hatch out all the brood and move the colony across. Once moved you then allow the colony to rob out the remaining honey or provide a new colony to rob out the remaining honey.
Forced Trap Outs:
In this form of trap out you simply create a 1 way valve for the entrance so that the bees can leave the nest but not return. Providing an ideal place for the bees near by allows the bees to reform the colony in the box that can then be moved once the queen has abandoned the nest due to the loss in bee numbers becoming unsustainable.
Now insured for beekeeping services. This covers personal injury and 3rd party on jobs but does not cover building work so if you need a wall removed to get to the bees then this is a job for a builder or a handyman, but I’ll be there to hoover them up once the nest is exposed.
Equipment that helps:
Thermal Camera:
This helps me to find the colony of bees even if it is hidden behind a wall. Endoscope is also useful for seeing inside things and around corners.
Multifunctional Swarm Box
The swarm box allows me to get the bees and transport them to a new home. Essentially the majority of bees will follow the Queen so finding her is key.
Bee Vacuum
The bee vac allows me to get the bees from a tight space and put them directly into the swarm box.
I do these projects but there is a charge for them as in many cases there is a lot of work. I will endeavor to give you an estimate of the time and cost commitment before any work starts.