Got my first call-out this year

[Helen]

Just received a call from someone with a colony (or maybe 2) in an old shed they are knocking down.



Another beekeeper apparently went around a week ago, and said they couldn't do anything apart from kill the colony. The colony was found when an inner panel inside the shed was removed. Not sure how he killed the bees, but left a lot/all of the comb.



Shed owners called me this evening - saying there was a load of bees still on a broken bit of paneling which was exposed to the weather. Sounded like a large number - he described it as being well over a foot long, large mass. Anyway, I got him to cover it - he did that with tarp and carpet - and I'll pop around on the weekend to take a look.



Earliest call out Ive ever had. And a curious one at that.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Just received a call from someone with a colony (or maybe 2) in an old shed they are knocking down.



Another beekeeper apparently went around a week ago, and said they couldn't do anything apart from kill the colony. The colony was found when an inner panel inside the shed was removed. Not sure how he killed the bees, but left a lot/all of the comb.



Shed owners called me this evening - saying there was a load of bees still on a broken bit of paneling which was exposed to the weather. Sounded like a large number - he described it as being well over a foot long, large mass. Anyway, I got him to cover it - he did that with tarp and carpet - and I'll pop around on the weekend to take a look.



Earliest call out Ive ever had. And a curious one at that.

And it begins! I had some bizarre phone calls last year.
Let us know how you get on.
Good luck.

 

[Swarm]

I had a lady asking what to do with the bees in her soffit, up above a flat roof. They've been there a couple of years or more, apparently.

 

[Madge]

... Another beekeeper apparently went around a week ago, and said they couldn't do anything apart from kill the colony. ...

Oh, dear. Another trigger-happy beekeeper.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Oh, dear. Another trigger-happy beekeeper.

I agree.

As the nest was accessible it seems a straightforward cut-out job; even easier with a hive vacuum; if that sort of expense is too much, cobble one together, but Steve's kit is beautifully made and a regular swarm expenses collection charge would soon recoup the cost.

Probable that the first beekeeper felt out of his depth or didn't want to put in the hours, in which case he should have passed it to someone who could and would. Another disturbing aspect: what did he use to partially kill the nest? If it was a chemical then he is bound by law to prevent access to the nest remains by other pollinators, which may rob out both stores and poison. At the very least he should have terminated all the bees, removed all of the nest, and sealed access to it or ensured immediate demolition of the rest of the shed.

According to Beegone.co.uk the relevant legals are:
Food and Environment Protection Act 1985
Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986 and 1987 as amended
Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 as amended
Biocidal Product Regulations 2001 as amended

This Rentokil blog post tells the story of a prosecution for the use of carbamate which caused non-target deaths of pollinators; it also locates the source of the myth that bees are a protected species. Helen, you may not know the other beekeeper and may prefer not to criticise him in public, but there's an opportunity here not only to save the remains (Q may be alive) but to get the information out locally that this needless, shameful and incompetent act need not happen again.

 

[For want of a better word]

Oh, dear. Another trigger-happy beekeeper.

The Local Tamar Master Beekeeper ( self Opinionated clot) would have been round like a shot and then sold them on for £70 to some unsuspecting beginner!

 

[Helen]

Found out some more info ... it wasn't a beekeeper, but a pest control person who had 'connections to the Beekeeping Organisation'.



As such, they may not have had any kit to remove them, so culled them instead. But left the comb 'lying all over the place in pieces'.



The remaining (or second?) colony - a large rugby-ball shaped mass - apparently disappeared this morning. Sounds like maybe there was a queen in there? Hope they found some place to relocate to. Maybe I'll get a call soon about a new swarm in someone's property.


The owner of the property was almost distraught that the first guy resorted to killing them. Hence for the 2nd, they called me.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Found out some more info ... it wasn't a beekeeper, but a pest control person who had 'connections to the Beekeeping Organisation'.

Proper PCs invariably decline to kill honeybees and pass them to beekeepers. Sounds like this one is a fly-by-night; wonder how much he charged?

 

[user 819]

A local beek rescued a colony three or four weeks ago following a call form the council, one of there arborist teams came across a colony in a rotten tree being removed/cut down.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Proper PCs invariably decline to kill honeybees and pass them to beekeepers.

True in my experience. They are very reluctant to destroy honeybees and usually only do it after a beekeeper has said that they can't be saved.

 

[For want of a better word]

True in my experience. They are very reluctant to destroy honeybees and usually only do it after a beekeeper has said that they can't be saved.

Best practice is to destroy swarms of unknown origin, especially if in an EFB (or AFB) "hotspot".

How many beekeepers have access to suitable quarantine apiary sites and have the time, kit and knowledge, to satisfactorily cope with a possibly infected swarm?

Chons da

 

[Heather]

She is a bee keeper! Whether she wants to be or not! cannot get out of soffits easily. they dont like you ripping bits off the property

 

[Heather]

i will always rescue colonies out of such places. Isolate for a while to ensure healthy, but had some very strong lovely bees. I hate to kill colonies just because they have decided to go into cavities of barns, sheds etc.