petrol to drive swarm from roof??

[newportbuzz]

hi i was called out to a swarm call yesterday
here is the long and short of it.
turned up a couple of hundred bees making their way into the roof space. defenitly a swarm as man said nothing there for over 4 years and then today chaos. so we went about taking celing boards of porch. the swarm wasnt in there they have gone further up.
so we get stethescope to try to locate the bees. cant pin point them. so we examine all roof for cavaties. there is only one large caviity about 2m cubed in the Aframe of the roof. he also has a roof joining to this roof so we can get some very VERY small acess to cavity.(not even enough to get a camera through)
so here is my question. since the swarm is not settled yet(no eggs) would a cup of petrol left at our small acess hole drive the swarm out of the cavity?
the aim is to remove not kill.
if this fails i will be going into the roof tomoro(through his sitting room)

 

[johna]

Hope you and your customer have got good fire insurance and you've got good personal liability cover.

 

[Flatters]

Pouring an explosive liquid into a space and not being able to control where it ends up does not sound like a good plan. I would suggets you look at alternatives.

 

[newportbuzz]

what other alternatives could you sugest?
with regards pouring explosive amounts the amount used is about 150 mls not enough to create a stoiceometric mixture and it is contained in a bowl not just spread around.

the aim was that the vapour wall would drive out the bees and the smell of petrol is a lot easier to clear than smoke or sulpher .

i am open to any viable sugestions i am just trying to avoid having to take his roof down.

thanks for all comments so far

 

[FAZERLOZ]

hi
I have been told that used coffee grounds placed at the site will make the bees disappear without killing them????????
I sell espresso for a living and a guy asked for used grounds for this purpose and a couple of weeks later came back and let me know that the bees had gone from under his bath. no doubt they were bumble bees but if it works with them !!!!!!!!!!

 

[newportbuzz]

we contemplated using co2 to try to drive them out but we would have had a lot less control of its dispersal and thought we would have overwhelmed the bees.
i imagine i have another half a day(arived 3pm yday) where they will be willing to leave their chosen location (wont leave eggs)
after that it will have to be a cut out or an extermination.

 

[newportbuzz]

hi
I have been told that used coffee grounds placed at the site will make the bees disappear without killing them????????
I sell espresso for a living and a guy asked for used grounds for this purpose and a couple of weeks later came back and let me know that the bees had gone from under his bath. no doubt they were bumble bees but if it works with them !!!!!!!!!!

i have done a bit of research on this and it is a common method for protecting against ants(same family as bees)
Unfortunatly i dont think i can use it in this situation as i can not get access to the bees themselves just the area which should contain them.
thanks for the sujestion tho.

 

[viridens]

Strong petrol vapour is used to kill bees in a confined space, such as terminating a sick colony, but not to drive them out in my experience.
I just put a bit of rag soaked in petrol on the flight board of a hive as an experiment. The bees didn't like it and avoided it, but there was no mass reaction as there would be to smoke.
Do you have a plan B?

 

[Chris B]

The easiest thing to do is nothing. If you weren't prepared to go to such great lengths for free, would the house owner be that bothered? Faced with a potential bill for several hundred quid from a professional builder/pest controller, reality might dawn on them i.e. that the bees are not likely to be a problem. Your eagerness to get involved perhaps just reinforces their misconceptions.

Other than that, bees dislike thymol vapours.

 

[huntsman666]

Bleach might be better and safer.

Good luck!

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Definitely avoid petrol.
I worked as Dangerous Goods Safety Advisor for quite a few years and you'd be surprised at the number of serious fires caused by someone using a "small" amount of petrol for a relatively "safe" task.

 

[biggles]

How about a bait hive with a frame of brood and eggs at the entrance.

 

[chickendave]

How about a bait hive with a frame of brood and eggs at the entrance.

I know someone who tried that a few weeks ago I told them I didn't think it would work and sure enough one dead frame of brood

 

[Moggs]

You sound determined. Petrol is dangerous (by the way, why would somebody, not the OP, 'try' some petrol at a hive entrance? Did you pull the wings off flies as a kid?).

Are you sure it's a swarm? Sometimes, quite a few bees 'scout' out a location. Can you hear them in great number? As there would appear to be some difficulty in access I would be inclined to see what develops. What have you got to lose? If it's not a QR colony, they will probably drift away of their own accord. If it is a swarm, then there may be more disruption in making good any building work than ever the bees would cause.

 

[Dishmop]

Use all that unwanted aftershave and deodorants that you got for Christmas, I bet they wont like it either.

 

[milkermel]

firstly to the person that quoted couple of hundred quid for a pestie, If you are talking about destroying colony most pesties depending on their ethics will do it for £40. so no major cost to home owner. some are now refusing to do it, however this leaves the ametures who will do it for £20!

IMO and experience over the last couple of weeks if they are in then they are in. Called to a house who had scouts out around house roof. Put creosote and other noxious stuff around entrance and on rags to try and deter. with no luck at all. colony moved in and wouldnt smoke out so had to be destroyed.

bait hive put up close to area in case it happened again. Yesturday a swarm moved to area went straight into old hole rather than chose the bait hive. So another colony that will have to go.

 

[newportbuzz]

the thymol might work well. (bit late now)
i take all the advise about the dangers of petrol seriously and i am fairly sure we have covered every eventuality to ensure using it safely there will be no one going into the attic space untill the vapours have cleared.
with regards the urge to get involved i dont want to have to deal with it at all.
its a favour that i have been called in on. even if i manage to get the swarm out i wont get it it is going to the fella who called me in to help.

with regards the plan b
there is none other than offer the option of going into his roof when he opens it up to take the bees out if they are found.

as for the aftershave i have made my opinion felt on those gifts and they have stoped so i have only my good one left.

as for the noise there is the chittering noise that my hives make but no strong buzz they are comming out from about 6 different entrances along about 3 meters of the house front so making them very hard to pinpoint.

i have left a bait hive beside it with an old brood frame which i will leave there incase a cast comes along in a few days

Thanks for all the advise i am sure they have settled in now so the petrol will be removed and let to clear.

 

[newportbuzz]

firstly to the person that quoted couple of hundred quid for a pestie, If you are talking about destroying colony most pesties depending on their ethics will do it for £40. so no major cost to home owner. some are now refusing to do it, however this leaves the ametures who will do it for £20!

IMO and experience over the last couple of weeks if they are in then they are in. Called to a house who had scouts out around house roof. Put creosote and other noxious stuff around entrance and on rags to try and deter. with no luck at all. colony moved in and wouldnt smoke out so had to be destroyed.

bait hive put up close to area in case it happened again. Yesturday a swarm moved to area went straight into old hole rather than chose the bait hive. So another colony that will have to go.

ouch

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Yesturday a swarm moved to area went straight into old hole rather than chose the bait hive. So another colony that will have to go.

This may be a silly question but why did nobody seal up the old hole after the first colony was destroyed?

 

[Adam]

You could try spraying some Fischers 'Bee Quick' in, or better still Fabi-spray. I've used it get rid of a swarm from a cavity wall that had been in for a day or two. They smell a bit of almonds but aren't offensive particularly.

Paynes sell them both I think.

Adam