Bees in chimney

[bpmurray]

I was called last night by someone near me who has bees in her chimney. I checked this morning, although a bit early as it was still rather cool & nothing flying. However, she called back and they're definitely going in & out - not many, more like the numbers going in & out of my little Q- nuc which has only a couple of frames of bees, so I'm guessing a cast swarm.

The big problem is that this is a very old house and they have a stove where the flue goes up through the old chimney, which means a large gap around the flue, and bees are making their way down through the gap and into their living room. Update: she just called and said they're getting into the kitchen too.

She even called a pest control and, because of the Irish status of honeybees, he won't touch it (I believe the law says they can be killed if they're in the house or a general threat to people).

I thought some non-return exit on the chimney would get them out of there, and a nuc with a tempting brood frame or two as bait could persuade them to set up house there. However I don't want to climb onto the roof, where the chimney is in the center, really awkward. While I sympathise with her, I'm just not prepared to risk life & limb.

So, any magic solutions?

 

[enrico]

I find a letter from a 'beekeeper' to say it is not practical or possible to get them out of the chimney and that the bees could be a danger to children if crawling on the carpet, is enough for pest controllers to act.
The main problem is going to be wax in the chimney. When she lights the fire the wax could get hot enough to ignite. I think the whole chimney liner is going to have to be taken out and any comb removed!
I don't touch cut outs any more
E

 

[bpmurray]

I find a letter from a 'beekeeper' to say it is not practical or possible to get them out of the chimney and that the bees could be a danger to children if crawling on the carpet, is enough for pest controllers to act.

Many of the local beekeepers here will be visiting an apiary this evening - I'll see if any of them might be willing to help. Failing that, I'm happy to write a letter in my official capacity of stumbling from crisis to crisis with a bunch of bees!

The main problem is going to be wax in the chimney. When she lights the fire the wax could get hot enough to ignite. I think the whole chimney liner is going to have to be taken out and any comb removed!
I don't touch cut outs any more

That's what I'm afraid of too - they've only been there a couple of days, but they could have already drawn a big lump of inflammable comb. Removing that will require some work - I wonder if insurance covers that!

 

[Rich0909]

There is a reasonable possibility they are still at the scouting stage and not actually moved in yet - I've seen it before with a cloud of bees round the chimney and turning up in various rooms and then suddenly all goes quiet as they decide on an alternative location. If possible get them to keep the stove burning to make it a less attractive location.

Rich.

 

[BeeJayBee]

If possible get them to keep the stove burning to make it a less attractive location.

And leave a bait hive nearby, and hopefully they won't move into another roof or chomney.

Once the bees have gone, get the people to put an insect-proof cowl on the chimney to stop it happening again.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I was called last night by someone near me who has bees in her chimney. I checked this morning, although a bit early as it was still rather cool & nothing flying. However, she called back and they're definitely going in & out - not many, more like the numbers going in & out of my little Q- nuc which has only a couple of frames of bees, so I'm guessing a cast swarm.

The big problem is that this is a very old house and they have a stove where the flue goes up through the old chimney, which means a large gap around the flue, and bees are making their way down through the gap and into their living room. Update: she just called and said they're getting into the kitchen too.

She even called a pest control and, because of the Irish status of honeybees, he won't touch it (I believe the law says they can be killed if they're in the house or a general threat to people).

I thought some non-return exit on the chimney would get them out of there, and a nuc with a tempting brood frame or two as bait could persuade them to set up house there. However I don't want to climb onto the roof, where the chimney is in the center, really awkward. While I sympathise with her, I'm just not prepared to risk life & limb.

So, any magic solutions?

The flue and liner gap should have been closed off with a closure plate both top and bottom. If the bees are in the actual flue pipe a smoky fire should move them before significant comb is drawn. If they are in the void between flue and brickwork it's likely to be a builders job poor pointing and lack of maintenance?
Chickens coming home to roost

 

[Jeff Buzz]

Here is one I did last year.....

 

[Gilberdyke John]

That's what I call a non-trivial job Jeff
If only the void had been filled with vermiculite concrete and the pointing, hauching and flashing maintenance kept up there wouldn't have been space for the bees to move in.

 

[Jeff Buzz]

It was very high the cherry picker has a 17m reach and it was fully out.

As you can imagine they did not get collected for free