Removing Bees from a House

Some very nice folks in Brunswick had some bees in their house (see previous post).   So the  Cumberland County Beekeepers came to the rescue by turning it into a learning opportunity and holding a Bee Removal Workshop.

Master Beekeeper (and Maine State Beekeepers Assn. President) Erin MacGregor-Forbes agreed to lead a group through a live removal of honeybees from a building.

The rain held out, and we were in business.

These images will walk you through the process.

Setting up for the honey bee removal
Setting up for the honey bee removal

The homeowner set up scaffolding for the group to work (above) and the rest of us bought out the gear.  It looked like a beekeepers yard sale.

John, Keith and Chris getting the bee removal equipment ready.
John, Keith and Chris getting the bee removal equipment ready.

We had three different kinds of bee-vacs, lots of empty frames, buckets, nucs, tools – you name it.

Chris and Erin starting to pry open the facia.
Chris and Erin starting to pry open the facia.

We got to work getting things opened up in a manner that would not destroy the house.

Chris and Keith trimming nails on the interior, so that no one  would get poked during the operation.
Chris and Keith trimming nails on the interior, so that no one would get poked during the operation.

The house had originally had a flat roof, so there was some funkiness inside that had to be dealt with by the crew.

Erin (in Overland garb) and Chris continue the dismantling.
Erin (in Overland garb) and Chris continue the dismantling.

Opening up the house went pretty quickly.

To quote Peggy Lee: "Is that all there is?"
To quote Peggy Lee: "Is that all there is?"

So the crew got it opened up and was surprised to find only a couple of small combs and a couple of hundred bees.

Small colony of Honey Bees and an empty Paper Wasp nest.
Small colony of Honey Bees and an empty Paper Wasp nest.

So here we were with a small colony and a Paper Wasp nest (inactive).  It seemed as if the bees I had snagged a couple of weeks earlier were actually the bulk of the swarm, and that they had just arrived when I had come by to scoop them up.  I had assumed that they had been there for a while, and were just coming out for some air on a very hot day.  One of the reasons for this theory is that the homeowners had previously had honeybees in a similar cavity in the house.  We had just figured that new bees had smelled the last occupants and had figured out that the cavity was perfect for them.   The reality is probably that I had captured most of the swarm and these were the pioneers of the colony who were inside the house at the time.

Vacuuming the bees.
Vacuuming the bees.

So Erin and Chris got to vacuuming the bees out with a special bee-vac (note the smooth tube, so that the bees don’t get too clobbered on the way in).

Honeybees in the hose
Honeybees in the hose

The vacuum is set up so that it doesn’t suck them in too hard and kill all the bees.

Erin rubber banding comb into empty frames
Erin rubber banding comb into empty frames

The comb is removed from the structure and loosely rubber banded into empty frames.  All the while looking for the queen, brood and eggs.  Only a small patch of eggs were found.

Happy Homeowner
Happy Homeowner

Joel borrowed a “bee suit” and helped with the process.  I think he was very happy to have the bees out of his house.

The bees that were sucked up by the "bee-vac"
The bees that were sucked up by the "bee-vac"

We used a very nifty contraption that sucked the bees into “cartridges” that were made of of the packages that bees come in (when you order them from down South) and was housed in a modified “nuc” box.

All finished.  Emptied out cavity in the house.
All finished. Emptied out cavity in the house.

In conclusion, for me, even though it went very quickly and we didn’t have tons of bees to pull out of the structure it was a highly successful endeavor.  We all learned the process and steps one goes through to prep and remove honeybees from a structure form an experienced bee-remover.  We also got hands on training with the specialized equipment that is frequently used.  From what I understand, the only thing missing was hordes of angry stinging bees.  That is fine with me.

Many thanks to all who participated for a fine afternoon.

The Bees are Back in Town

It was the first time looking at the bees since November.

Good news and bad news.

The good news is that 4 of the colonies are doing great.  Below is an image of one of the Nucs that wintered on top of an Overland Over-winter-inator-atortm.  You can see that there are plenty of bees grouped in an area (the cluster).  And what you can’t see is that there are plenty of honey stores left – so these bees have (in my book) made it through the winter.

Happy Nuc - March 2010
Happy Nuc - March 2010

OK, now the bad news.  The full-sized hive underneath the Over-winter-inator-atortm (Roger) didn’t make it.  They all ended up in one of the top corners of the hive and starved.  Below you can see them all in one area. On the surrounding frames there were many bees all the way into the cells where they died eating the last drops of honey that were in their vicinity.

Cluster of Dead (starved) Bees on a Frame
Cluster of Dead (starved) Bees on a Frame

Below is the ball of bees as they died.  The sad part is that there is plenty of honey and pollen left in the hive.  I think that the problem was that they did not start out in the bottom box, then they moved up and to the side and got stranded in the corner.

Cluster of Dead Bees
Cluster of Dead Bees

The sad, but amazing testament to the way a beehive works, is that in this (very blurry-sorry) photograph below you can see the red dot on the back of the queen (2008) at the absolute top of the heap.  The colony did their very best to keep her alive all the way until the end.

Lousy photograph, but you can see the red dot on the queen to the upper left.
Lousy photograph, but you can see the red dot on the queen to the upper left.

But the show must go on, and the lessons learned absorbed for the next season. The remaining 4 colonies will be the backbone of our micro-apiary for the coming year as we continue expansion and education.

The Finson Farm Apiary - March 2010
The Finson Farm Apiary - March 2010

And even better, the flowers are starting to bloom and Spring has arrived in Maine…

Spring Has Arrived in Maine for 2010
Spring Has Arrived in Maine for 2010

Hope to see you out in the bee yard.

How to get rid of ants in a honey bee hive

Damn ants took advantage of my two weak nuc (nucleus) hives and crawled up and infested the place.  They were there to steal the 1:1 sugar:water syrup that I had left to feed weak bees, as it was going to be a rainy week.  The nucs were made with bees from one of my stronger hives (James) and super-fancy queens that were bred by Michael Palmer in Vermont.  Acquired the Queens at a Nuc Workshop run by the Cumberland County Beekeepers Association‘s own Erin Forbes and Larry Peiffer.  A very helpful class that I would highly recommend (I think they are going to do it again next year).

Ants in a honey bee hive (nuc)
Ants in a honey bee hive (nuc)

Anyway, back to getting rid of the ants.    Ground cinnamon sprinkled around the base of the hive and inside the top of the hive are a well know way of keeping the ants at bay – but I learned a super-nifty trick from Erin –  I propped the entire nucs up on cinnamon sticks, too (see the red circles in the photo).  That way any ant that wants to steal from my bees will have to physically traverse the cinnamon (which apparently they abhor).  Take that, ants!

I propped the nucs up on cinnamon stick to fend off the ants
I propped the nucs up on cinnamon sticks to fend off the ants