[Barry Digman]

The bees are in a wing wall that extends out from the main house. It's a two story house, and the 2x8s you see in the video go all the way through the wall and serve as the railing for the 2nd story deck. The bees enter on the north side. The grade there is pretty well elevated so it wouldn't require much in the way of scaffolding or ladders. The south side is the 2nd story deck of course. They seem able to enter on both sides but the wall penetrations on the deck side have very little activity. Here are some still photos and a video.

http://s29.photobucket.com/user/barrydigman/library/Dustin bees?sort=3&page=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nix1LX68Ls&feature=youtu.be

 

[Mr.Beeman]

Not a trap out in my book. Cut out is more the route I'd go.
From a builder's standpoint, it's odd to have those ends just sticking out there. Aesthetics I suppose.

 

[Barry]

Yeah Barry, from a mid-western world, I don't know what's behind this exposed wood look, do you? Great way to wick water into the wall, as well as bees. Looks like cutting into the wall from the inside is the way to go on this one.

 

[Barry Digman]

That exposed wood thing is from traditional pueblo style architecture. There's lots of exposed wood here as it's a desert and there isn't much worry about moisture getting into stuff.

If it was up to me I'd just go for the cutout, but it's a stucco wall and you can't match a stucco patch on a wall that's 40 or 50 years old. They look terrible afterwards so the homeowner has to think about redoing the whole wall, perhaps the house if they're picky. This particular owner is thinking it would be much less trouble to just get a few cans of Raid and one of expanding foam and call it good.

 

[cg3]

I'd go at it from indoors, assuming it's drywall.

 

[Barry Digman]

There's no indoor surface. Both sides of the wing wall are outside. If you look at the picture of the front of the house you can see the three deck rails. They penetrate the wall on the right side of the picture and extend through it.

 

[cg3]

Oh, I see. Instead of Raid, maybe butyric acid?

 

[Barry]

That exposed wood thing is from traditional pueblo style architecture. There's lots of exposed wood here as it's a desert and there isn't much worry about moisture getting into stuff.

A lame attempt. All the pueblo architecture I've seen have round pole/log timbers extending through the wall at the roof line, not 2x8's going up the side of a wall. If its an exterior wing wall, why not just leave them?

 

[Joseph Clemens]

Perhaps some Fischer's Bee Quick, injected into the deck side, then temporarily plug that side with tape or steel wool (I prefer the stainless steel, steel wool) - get them to exit on the opposite side, the side they prefer for an entrance. Round them up, as they exit, maybe with a bee-vac.

Do you suppose they have a sizable nest area, does the wall's structure support that idea? Or is this likely a small colony in a limited nest area?

Once you have rounded up the majority of the adult bees, even if you don't get the queen (possibly determined by listening with a stethoscope or your ear to the bottom of a glass), you could discreetly seal up their entrance and any other possible route that could become alternate entrances. It's rarely a good idea to leave the remains of a colony like this, sealed inside a wall, many undesirable issues could develop, but the homeowner is ultimately responsible for their own maintenance issues, even these.

 

[Saltybee]

If the owner's are light uses of that deck it looks awfully convenient. Should be pretty easy to collar the 2x8 s with screws or clamps and 2x2 or strapping. On the deck side Laura style fence mounts and a robbing screen style entrance with the side open along the x 8 side should work. Would you need to use some screen to allow ventilation?