BEES IN THE WALL !! BEE VAC

[Jason G in Tennessee]

I have a lady here who wants to remove the bees out of the finished garage wall. They are coming in at the fuse box!
I thought about using an escape cone and putting the hive outside the cone, but that's a bit slow. HOW ABOUT USING Bee Go to get them to leave and vacuum them out as they leave so I can add them to my struggling hive?
Anybody done this kind of work? I have developed my own Bee vac and it seems to work well, but I was wondering if there are any particular methods that work better?
What should I charge to remove the bees?
Jason

[Michael Bush]

You can do the cone. You can smoke them alot, being careful not to blow flames in the wall, you could try bee go, but how will you get it in the wall? It needs surface area to evaporate (fume pad is the normal method). It depends on your situation. The fumes are heavier than air and need to be above the bees. I have a vacumn and sometimes use it, but I prefer to avoid it unless I have to. Too many injured bees.

If you put on the cone there will be a pretty good supply of bees there every night that you can spray with some light syrup, brush into a box and take home to your struggling hive. If you do this every day the population will drop rapidly and make handling them easier.

If you tear into the wall you have to be careful of the electrical wires, if they run through the comb. And you have to put them back.

The problem with charging is then you have to take care of the problem. The advantage of doing it free is you can walk away anytime if you don't know what to do next. If you feel compitent enough to tear into the wall, remove the bees, put the wallboard back up, mud and tape it, fill the void with foam, then that's how I would bid it. Of course that depends on the situation how much work that is. Other wise I'd just take some free bees.

[kayakdg]

Hi I've done about five bee evictions They are all different. To start with, are they in a chicken shed or a half million dollar home? Two I got fron the inside and the others I removed siding. Is it on the ground or 20 feet up on a ladder? I always use my bee vac. Before I start I tell the customer there will be minimal damage to the wall or siding, and I do not repair the damage. Price varies on the job and how hard it will be. After the job is done I stop in with the bee vac at dusk and get the stragglers. When cutting wall board in older homes cut small pieces and keep checking for wires. They put them in strange places. When you do the first visit and if it looks unsafe, walk away. Free bees aren't worth broken bones or worse. Also you can tell a lot about the home owner at that first visit . Some of them are going to be a real pain and aren't worth working with. I pulled a hive out of a house and got the bees, 100 lbs of honey, ten frames of brood and $200. Not a bad days work . Good luck Dan

[honeyman46408]

I think the easiest way( but not the quickest )is with the cone and put ahive with a frame or two of brood by the cone sometimes you can get two or three boxes of bee this way also BeeGo will not run them off brood.
Ed.

[Jason G in Tennessee]

Wow, thanks. All of you have provided very sage advice. Very helpful indeed.
I have another person with bees around the gas log exhaust in the chimney. I think I am going to try the Bee Go with the bees in the garage wall and a cone with the bees in the chimney. ANOTHER QUESTION...OR TWO...
If I were to put a hive outside the cone, would it need to have a queen present to get the bees to join the new hive or just a frame or two of brood and workers?
When using the cone method, would leaving the honey in the chimney be bad news for the owners since it is brick?
THANKS!
Jason

[kayakdg]

Hi I am using the cone method to trap a colany out of a old oak tree.I put one frame of honey and one frame of brood in the hive and they are moving in. The question about leaving the honey behind. First the smell of the honey will have a new swarm moving in. Honey unattended can absorb water then ferment in the wall staining the wall and smelling bad Thanks Dan

[honeyman46408]

With a frame of brood and eggs they <should> raise a queen but not always.
As for the honey left behind after you have removed all the bees and you are sure? that the queen is dead take a different hive to the location put some honey around the enterace and let them rob it out then you can put some wax moth larve in the hole and plug the hole and all that will bee left is a mess of silk.

[Michael Bush]

I agree. The way to get the the honey out is put a good strong hive there and incite robbing. You may have to wait for a dearth to get them to do it.

[Jason G in Tennessee]

Once again I am VERY thankful for such good information. I will let you know how it goes for me. WHERE DO I GET WAXMOTH LARVAE?
Jason

[Michael Bush]

Find any beekeeper and look in his old equipment that is laying around. I'm sure someone will lend you some. You can bring them some back later.

[Jason G in Tennessee]

LOL!

[honeyman46408]

Go to a Bate shop and get some Beemoths

[Michael Bush]

I forget, that's true, you can buy them at the bait shop. I wonder if they'd like to buy a lot of them wholsale from me?

[Jason G in Tennessee]

I thought you were just kidding!
I don't think I have ever noticed them for sale at any baitshops before. I will check on that. Then again I suppose I could just set some come out somewhere for a while too.
thanks!
Jason

[ChellesBees]

All the bait shops up here sell waxworms. All year around. Even saw an article one time on how to raise them. (shudder) maybe it will raise more money than the honey crop.