Just had a call to remove 2 colonies

[hedgerow pete]

a very brave attemp, and fair play you decided to walk away . as i said earlier cut outs are not realy worth doing, if you look at it with a cold money heart the time you spent at the house compared to work lost earning and time out they are very hard to justify , but the several calls you get next year will make up for it, well done mate 10/10 for effort

 

[thurrock bees]

I hope you did not blink......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFKa9tQqzrs

i like it

 

[VEG]

Many thanks hedgerowpete. As I am unemployed I was glad of something to do to be honest but a shame they could not bhe saved.

That is the house in the Dr Who clip above

 

[RoofTops]

I'm in full support, there are swarms and colonies which are either best left alone or, and this is the difficult bit, for different reasons need to be killed. It is a difficult decision but needs to made from time to time. I was called to a nest where the bees were going in and out from a hole in a wall a few feet from a holiday cottage front door. Knocking holes in the wall wasn't really an option so we sealed the hole up. Not pleasant - the bees didn't find any other entrance and expired. Poison would have been more humane but we went for the organic approach.

Vegans are allowed to argue.

 

[PaleoPerson]

but a shame they could not bhe saved. :e

Veg, you have my support. Trying to rescue and not being able to is a far better option than just ignoring them. Their fate was sealed a long time ago, that's the way it goes. Hope you have a better opportunity with the next lot. Just remember not to blink.

 

[hedgerow pete]

veg, from the photo's heres a couple of thoughts for you. The hole in the floor is way to small, i would have gone for a hole at least 4 foot long by say any where betwen 5 and 10 boards wide. One of the biggetst mistakes and one of the easiest to sort is access when dealing with a cut out, this is where the punter expects you to work through a small hole and i turn up with a sledge hammer, by the look of the floor boards you did no lift enough or the carpenter did not cut the floor properly for you to lift.

The biggest thing is the good will that you now have with that builder, builders like quick and simple solutions to problems you are now on top of the swarm list, you might get asked to deal with wasps and hornets so either prepare the "i am only a bee keeper "speach or do you want me to do a write up on wasps and hornets

 

[VEG]

Pete we took up seven boards.

 

[oliver90owner]

Only the person on site will know their capabilities, the limits of access and... when to give up. Veg, you done a fine job. You tried.

OK, this time you failed, but that is experience. Hopefully next time, or the time after that, you will succeed. Best of luck in future efforts - and, yes, sometimes you need some luck. Even if you can dismantle the whole area, you could finish up losing the bees.

Regards, RAB

 

[hedgerow pete]

on a cut out job i would say that i save a complete hive including the queen , 2 out of ten, I would save a nest of bees but needed to requeen it propberly 2 out of ten as for the other six they are killed off and all the nessary jobs done to completly remove as much nest as posible

 

[thurrock bees]

veg how did you get on with the second cut out??

 

[VEG]

I am waiting for them to give me a call as they need to get a scaffold tower so I can reach the ceiling. I do not like ladders. The ceilings in the house are about 12 Foot high. They have to get the tower in anyway so they can work so I will do it when they are ready. The only thing that worries me now is that the temperature is starting to drop. But that could mean they will stay in cluster so may be easier (famous last words). At least now I have a good idea what I am up against.

 

[hedgerow pete]

being colder will work for you in one way and that the nest will be very slow to re act or to attack as the cold slows them down but this will also mean that the whole nest will be able to go against you if you get them going. are you ok with what your facing or do i have to wear another finger tip out for you

 

[VEG]

Lol any tips would be good

 

[MJBee]

Hi Veg,
Good luck - a couple of tips for you. Use a hole cutter (2 or 3") to initially check where the colony is small mirror and a torch will help.
Once you have their location slowly remove the plaster until you have exposed the whole colony (Note there will probably be a lot of dust/debris on the plaster so goggles might be a good idea)
Once the whole colony is exposed pause and clear up then start removing comb starting at the newest. Two bin bags at this point one for empty comb the other for comb with honey.
If they are clustered I would cut the combs to fit frames and put them in a brood box in the same order with as many bees as possible.
Final point keep the room as cold as possible to encourage them to stay clustered.
Good luck let us know how you get on - pics on "another cut out" thread show some of the sequence.
Mike

 

[margob99]

This has been the most fascinating thread I've read so far; please give us an update, Veg!

 

[VEG]

They are still working in the room that I did the other work in. It will be a few weeks I think. I can see exactly where the colony is (famous last words) as they have had some water damage and part of the ceiling has come down revealing the end comb.