[Homemaid]

We went on a bee call and we ended up with a lot of comb in a crawl space of a house. There were no bees at all. The comb was some old brood comb 3, 5 gallon pails full, and 2 pails full of comb with honey. My questions are is this honey safe to use. we do not know how the bees died or left. The home owner said they sprayed the bees under the siding but not into the crawl space. The honey was all capped so does that keep it protected if they did spray.. I am new to this and dont want to use this honey if it is poisoned. Please help...

 

[AChabot]

Do not use the honey.

 

[imthedude]

i did a similar cutout in april. it was a deadout. i removed 10 gallons of capped honey and about 15 gallons of empty brood and honey comb. we're using the wax but not the honey.

 

[green2btree]

Agreed, do not use the honey or leave it out where other bees can get at it. Future advice - MANY people will hide the fact that they have sprayed the bees. I know you want to save them, but, really, it almost always is hopeless if they have been sprayed, even "just a little bit". When I am talking to people on the phone the first time, I always ask "When were they sprayed last?", very casually, like it is the most reasonable thing in the world to do. Then, when they admit they had, I break it to them that I will not be coming out, and to next time, not spray them.

JC

 

[Homemaid]

Than you so much for all the help. I will melt down the wax and not use the honey. Isnt it a shame people have no idea what they are doing. I will be asking a lot more questions before I go out again. this was our second dry run that are both about 35 miles away. We think we are going to tell them from now on that there will be a minimum charge of $50.00 for us to come out. Does that sound fair or should we not charge??

 

[imthedude]

I wondered the same thing after a potential customer killed the colony that moved into his house last week. He killed it the day after I provided him an estimate, and a rather good estimate at that. Most of the guys in my area have a mileage charge after a certain distance (i.e. 50cents per mile if farther than 10 miles).

 

[Homemaid]

Its too bad there is not some way to test the honey to see if it would be safe what a shame to dispose of it all. The amount of honey that get thrown out because of bees being sprayed is horrible..

 

[Earthboy]

Than you so much for all the help. I will melt down the wax and not use the honey. Isnt it a shame people have no idea what they are doing. I will be asking a lot more questions before I go out again. this was our second dry run that are both about 35 miles away. We think we are going to tell them from now on that there will be a minimum charge of $50.00 for us to come out. Does that sound fair or should we not charge??

I double the charge.

 

[Homemaid]

thank you..

 

[Homemaid]

Re: Cut out questions... Updated..

I talked to the homeowner today and they said they did not spray anything. I asked and told them it was fine if they had but we needed to know because the honey could be poisonous. They said there was no spray used at all. When they were talking about spraying under the siding it was someone elses house. Now we are not sure of what to do. Any more suggestions would be great.

 

[jmgi]

Re: Cut out questions... Updated..

Again, do not save the honey for yourself or to feed back to bees.

 

[Nathan Beach]

Using the honey is too much of a risk. When you aren't familiar with the hive, surroundings, and circumstances I wouldn't even feed it to your bees since you don't know what the colony died of.
In our area most cut-outs don't make good colonies, so charge what would make the trip worthwhile for you.

 

[AChabot]

Just junk the honey, it is not that valuable of a resource, amd the risk is too big, to you and your living hives. the bees can make more, don't worry about that!