Help needed from the experts

[Amari]

Devon to Kent to remove bees? I hope OP's honey sales are buoyant this year.......

 

[GoEnviro]

We travel all over the country, often putting bee removal jobs together in the same location. Its what we specialise in, we don't scare monger, we give out straight facts and tell it the way it is.
We are not cheap for good reason, what we do is generally not straightforward and requires a large skill set, and the work is generally carried out in not particularly pleasant working conditions usually wearing a bee suit
Unfortunately bee removal is an expensive business if its to be done correctly. We specialise in minimising any impact on the property and to prevent reinfestation by proofing that takes into account the prevention of future issues that may include things such as damp & mould as a result of condensation if the proofing & prevention is not done correctly.
It would be fair to say that we carry out bee removals in old heritage properties, schools, universities, etc but equally we carry out bee removals from more modern residential properties and commercial and industrial properties
Just this week (2nd week of February 2023) we will have removed bees in Barnstaple (relatively close to base), then heading over to Cambridge tomorrow, up to Norwich, then Lincoln, then all the way to Glasgow, then may have one to do in Aberdeenshire (not confirmed yet), be good if we can get a day or two skiing in as well, then back down to a job in Northamptonshire and finally Cardiff or Lyme Regis.
A few days rest and we will be back on it again, but not North of the border for a little while
So much for a quiet winter.

The initial post was about bees in a chimney - which is a controlled device. Any one working on it has a large legal responsibility, whether or not they are aware of it, most builders are completely oblivious to it. Other than knowing the colony is in a chimney and has been there for a couple of years there's very little info provided - certainly not enough to give proper advice on the situation other than to get in contact with a n experienced knowledgeable bee removal specialist. We don't know if its on a party wall, how many flues there are, the use of said flues,. The fact that the bees are seen in the attic as well as in the living room is of immediate concern - this should not be.
Pest controllers advise that they are protected presumably because they are well aware of the damage it could do to their business should things go badly for some reason, and the more knowledgeable pest controllers will be aware of the various problems with carrying out bee removals. Yes bees can be poisoned but all entrances need to be proofed - this may or may not be straightforward dependent upon circumstances.


There are various facebook groups out there portraying to be the place to go to find a bee removal specialist. Most of these so called specialists have been on a two or is it 3 day introductory course to bee removing. That's a very short time to acquire the necessary skills & knowledge, it is simple an introduction to what's needed it is not a certificate of competence.


"Unless you are prepared to pay for scaffolding and repair work to remove the nest, your main hope rests on the death of the colony in winter. If there's no regular flight on mild spring days, fit a very fine mesh screen over the chimney mouth and re-point the chimney to seal other access points."
Bear in mind that just because a bee colony dies out over winter does not mean there won't be honey stores remaining. We took 35 kilos of honey and wax out of a colony last week from a colony that had apparently absconded for no obvious reason - there were no dead bees to talk of.
Without the bees there will be no control on wax moth or temperature control which could lead to a very big (and possibly expensive ) problem.

Whether the bees could successfully be removed from inside is questionable, and this would not prevent reinfestation by a passing swarm. Without detailed information about the chimney stack, its location and the location of the bee entrance its impossible to advise.

Just read that its an open chimney - did the sweep see the bee colony or was it in an adjacent flue?

"Lighting a fire under a two-year old colony is an insane recommendation from whoever said that
As for smoke bombs .... I wouldn't personally, I don't think it will work. They'll just come back when the smoke has stopped"
Well said, its unbelievable how many beekeepers suggest this to people without understanding what they are talking about, sure smoke can be effective but only in the correct scenarios - which are very rare.


Did not mean to write an essay on this but there's a lot to cover and that's just for bees in a chimney, and we have not touched the surface on that alone.
May be we will write a book on the subject some day.

 

[Ian123]

Halfway through reading I thought the forum had got spammed

 

[Erichalfbee]

Halfway through reading I thought the forum had got spammed

I think we have as the poster is advertising his business so I've removed it

 

[Anduril]

I think we have as the poster is advertising his business so I've removed it

The advert is in post 20 that is why there was a response.

 

[GoEnviro]

I think we have as the poster is advertising his business so I've removed it

Sorry to hear you felt that it was advertising a business rather than being informative. You will have seen that I had included our main competitors name within the post as well as ours.
It was written late at night (4am in the morning) whilst looking at SEO ideas
I was trying to be informative about what is clearly a misunderstood subject with very little sensible information available to people and as highlighted with a lot of idiots having done an introduction course seemingly thinking they have some ability.
Hopefully those of you that did get to read it are a little bit wiser.
You could look at putting it up excluding our business name, at least it would offer the opportunity to think about some of the points raised.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Sorry to hear you felt that it was advertising a business rather than being informative. You will have seen that I had included our main competitors name within the post as well as ours.
It was written late at night (4am in the morning) whilst looking at SEO ideas
I was trying to be informative about what is clearly a misunderstood subject with very little sensible information available to people and as highlighted with a lot of idiots having done an introduction course seemingly thinking they have some ability.
Hopefully those of you that did get to read it are a little bit wiser.
You could look at putting it up excluding our business name, at least it would offer the opportunity to think about some of the points raised.

I will.