topic Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION in Community Chat

HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

Tinkrbl44 — Fri, 05 May 2017 17:44:33 GMT

I need advice .... feedback ..... suggestions .......

We just discovered a huge infestation of what we thought were hornets all swarming in an air vent on our terrace, right above our sitting area! Yikes!

Well, a neighbor is in the garden center business, and he came over and looked at them, and said they are honey bees, not hornets.

YES, I am very aware of how "sacred" honey bees are for our ecosystem, and how their population has been dwindling. I definitely don't want them killed.

However ...... Our HOA is having a pest control guy come over on Monday to examine their swarming and make recommendations for how to get rid of them.

It appears this is the vent from our stove, and they might be building a nest in the pipes, or even gotten into a wall .... we really have no idea yet.

It's MY thought that, rather than killing these bees, it would be better to just make this location as inhospitable as possible. Yesterday I turned on the vent fan on Low and hope I'm creating enough of a breeze in the pipe that they decide to leave and go somewhere else .... at least they are alive. Today, I'm leaving the vent fan on High for several hours, and hopefully they won't like this and go elsewhere looking for a new place to nest.

Can I get some feedback or ideas for how to deal with them, to get them to leave? I've never had a bee infestation to deal with before, and don't want the Pest Control company to use chemicals on them.

Ideas?

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

mare54 — Fri, 05 May 2017 17:49:58 GMT

PLEASE DO NOT SPRAY AND KILL!! There should be someone who knows how to get them to a beekeeper in your area. Hopefully the pest control guy will know someone who can get them. Do you live near a university that has an agricultural department? Maybe they could help you as well.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

SaRina — Fri, 05 May 2017 18:15:48 GMT

Do you know if you're allergic to bee stings? I am and it can be life-threatening so I would never fool around with them. I also wouldn't try my own method of putting the air vent on. This could anger them into action.

I would only employ a professional service and let them do whatever they have to to rid you of the bees.

You can contact a school such as Cornell University that has an Entomology Department and ask for their advice. Also, your local Police or Fire Department. Ours had a professional beekeeper who went on calls throughout the city.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

kelsey17 — Fri, 05 May 2017 17:49:51 GMT

Years back we had a honey bee issue too......we ended up calling a beekeeper who was happy to take them away...

good luck..

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

Mz iMac — Fri, 05 May 2017 17:51:00 GMT

If it's honey bees, you have to remove the hive w/the queen. Male bee drones follow the queen.

You will need a "bee keeper" to remove the hive(s) properly. Check w/your township pest control department if they a "bee keeper" on staff.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

151949 — Fri, 05 May 2017 17:52:12 GMT

You just have a bee keeper come and he will remove the whole hive. When we lived in Pa our neighbors across the street had a hive in their attic dripping honey into their bedrooms. It took the bee keeper a week to get all the bees out, then they had to clean up the mess left behind and put up new ceilings.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

Nightowlz — Fri, 05 May 2017 17:55:41 GMT

I would look for a local beekeeper that can come over to deal with them. My sisters neighbor has a huge garden in his back yard & has bees to pollinate his garden. Most of the bees left his yard & ended up in a tree in my sisters back yard. The neighbor had his brother come over & do something so he could get the bees back over to the neighbors yard.

You can see the dark spot of bees in the tree.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

Noel7 — Fri, 05 May 2017 18:01:11 GMT

@Tinkrbl44

Bees are so important to us for many reasons. SF is trying to save the bees and had a report on it the other night.

Please get a professional to remove the hive and take it somewhere else where it will be safe and allowed to continue pollinating, etc.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

Noel7 — Fri, 05 May 2017 18:07:11 GMT

ps @Tinkrbl44

I just checked and in my area there are bee removal professionals that will do it all and the relocating for you without killing them.

All are listed on yelp dot com. Have you used yelp before? I don't know where you live, but people here use yelp all the time. It's good to look over their recommendations or just to see who is near where you live.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

qgirl70 — Fri, 05 May 2017 18:08:34 GMT

we had problem @ our guest house. the honey bees were between the drywall and the outside wall. we called a bee keeper. he vacumned them up and brought them to his hives. hope this helps!

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

Mz iMac — Fri, 05 May 2017 18:13:52 GMT

Bee Keepers are also listed in the Yellow Pages as well as the White Pages.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

Qshopper1991 — Fri, 05 May 2017 18:19:11 GMT

@Tinkrbl44! Just imagine all of the fresh, yummy honey you could have! LOL....just kidding

Yes, find a beekeeper, for sure. They will remove the bees without harming them.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

Mz iMac — Fri, 05 May 2017 18:21:59 GMT

@Qshopper1991 wrote:
@Tinkrbl44! Just imagine all of the fresh, yummy honey you could have! LOL....just kidding

Bee Keepers will give you some honey from the hive if you ask.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

software — Fri, 05 May 2017 18:42:13 GMT

Don't search Yelp or craigslist or anything like that. See if you can find a beekeepers association, or your local county extension agent.

It wouldn't be hard for me to find a beekeeper here. They are at local farmers markets as well but I don't know your area. My neighbor is a beekeeper.

Please do your best to not let the bees be killed.

@Tinkrbl44

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

AngusandBuddhasMom — Fri, 05 May 2017 18:44:37 GMT

@Tinkrbl44 not sure where you live but maybe get in touch with a University agricultural dept. They may be able to come out and extract the bees without killing them.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

Krimpette — Fri, 05 May 2017 18:58:20 GMT

Given the situation with honey bees and all the publicity, I can't imagine that a professional pest control service is going to detroy them. My guess is that they'll refer you to a beekeeper. At least I hope so.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

qualitygal — Fri, 05 May 2017 19:09:43 GMT

Professionals, or bee keepers.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

Nataliesgramma — Fri, 05 May 2017 19:16:38 GMT

as other posters have said...find a beekeeper they will be happy to take care of it for you.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

SahmIam — Fri, 05 May 2017 19:28:08 GMT

@Tinkrbl44 We just had this done to our house; the honey bees were going between the wall and the metal plate of our sliding glass door to the deck. The nest was between the outdoor insulation panels and the siding. Get ready: the nest covered the ENTIRE lower wall of the back of my townhouse from the deck...down. HUGE.

We found our beekeeper due to a neighbor who had to have this done. My son and her sons were spellbound by the beekeeper and what he did. He retrieved the queen and all the bees simply followed him to his very large truck... amazing to witness. It took a few hours as he did everything he could to preserve as much of the original hive walls as possible; he moved specific areas to his van and then bit by bit made his way to the queen.

We had to have someone come out and assist with removing the siding on the lower end of my townhouse; everyone wore bee garb: we stayed inside but were able to watch via the large windows. I'm telling you, watching a HUGE cloud of bees follow their queen is something you NEVER forget. Mother Nature is truly amazing.

Wasn't cheap but considering how important honey bees are, it was worth it. We have placed honey bee huts back in the wood near wild honeysuckle as the beekeeper said you don't get every single one (many are out retrieving pollen) so when they return, there is no place for them to go. I also felt bad because this colony was responsible for pollinating all our flowers (at least some of them) even though the fly miles to do this (again, amazing). The bee huts will encourage new hives (in time). We sealed up all the areas so, hopefully, the bees will not rebuild.

Edited to add: she found this gentleman via our state university/agriculture department. They were thrilled to help.

Re: HONEY BEES REMOVAL QUESTION

Noel7 — Fri, 05 May 2017 19:53:49 GMT

@software wrote:
Don't search Yelp or craigslist or anything like that. See if you can find a beekeepers association, or your local county extension agent.

It wouldn't be hard for me to find a beekeeper here. They are at local farmers markets as well but I don't know your area. My neighbor is a beekeeper.

Please do your best to not let the bees be killed.

@Tinkrbl44

**********************************

yelp lists the beekeepers associations that remove hives nearby a person's home.

That's why I suggested it @software yelp and Craig's list have nothing in common.