Guilfordbeekeepers.org

An employee at work came to me today with a question. His neighbor has bees in the siding of her house. She lives in Browns Summit. She said she would like for someone to take them but doesn't want to spend alot of money to have it done. I told her some of us rookies would probably be willing to try. I would like to ask you guys if you want to do it. I don't need the bees so anyone can claim them. I will take them if nobody wants them. I will be willing to help whoever wants in. The main reason I don't need the bees is because I can't afford the frame of eggs from the hives I have. I am afraid they will be weakened if I do anymore stealing. Well.....let's see who is in.

As long as they are acessable for the tools we have. Sure I will help. I also do not need the bees at this time. Is she willing to make a few apple pies?

Trap out or cut out? One story house or two?

L&H have you seen the house?

I think we should look before we leap.

Ski

No I haven't looked yet. It is about 6 feet of the ground. She doesn't want us to tear her wall out or anything. I will go Monday or Tuesday for some pics. I will know all the details for sure then. She said the bees have been there for about three years

It appears that I won't have the eggs of hive bodies to do this. Does anyone else want this?????????

How many full frames do you need to do a trap out? I have only assisted Wally with cut outs, using what we find in the colony brood nest by way of tying the comb in, or the hinge frames.

Wally......????

Wally what??? If you mean answer his question, you know it takes one frame of eggs and 9 foundation or drawn comb. Brown Summit is too far for me to drive, but I'll do what I can to help by phone and forum. TJ is in Summerfield, so it'll be a short drive for her.

TJ can you help? It looks as though a couple of us are running low on the frames with the right stuff. Anyone that can help out please let us know.

TJ can you help? It looks as though a couple of us are running low on the frames with the right stuff. Anyone that can help out please let us know.

Hey, L&H I PM'd you. TJ

Hi there. So I went to Browns Summit today and saw the bees. They are 11 feet up under a short vertical corner piece of aluminum siding. They are exiting from top and bottom. They are very active and there are lots. There were dead bees all over the driveway and I think they've tried to spray them in just the past few days. I did call her and tell her I was coming this morning. This is a corner to the garage and she said there were none in the garage. There is a soffit right above and they could be in that space as well. There is the driveway in the front corner which is fairly level. The right side of the corner has a approx. 4 foot wide sidewalk that slopes down to the right and goes uphill. It isn't level. We will need more than a stepladder to set this up, unless you have a tall one (I don't). Ski said we can borrow the newbie-cone and we need to tell him asap. I think we might need to actually make a new corner cone if we don't remove the siding piece, to wrap the whole entrance. We'll have to seal all around this piece of aluminum and leave the bottom entrance for the cone. I would love to just take off that aluminum siding piece to see what's going on underneath and we could ask her if we can do that. Also, we might want to get them to sign some kind of release of liability before we attempt anything like that. Let me know what you think. TJ
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I don't know about Wally's policy about spraying bees, but I usually tell the homeowner that I am not interested if they have applied any kind of insecticide.
Best of luck.

I not only agree with Kurt on spraying, but after dealing with the public for 50 years I have learned that first impressions mean a lot. My first thought when I read TJ's post was "complaints and lawsuit". I would chalk this one up as "The one that got away".

Great advice guys. I know a guy who does this stuff for a business so I will refer him. Thanks for all the help TJ. I don't think they sprayed the bees. I talked to her several times. My hives have dead bees in front of them and I don't spray.

I spoke to her as well, and she was asking me about the dead bee's. I don't think that they have sprayed them. She was just wanting them to go to a good home, (her comment). So I don't know.

Thanks for the advice and comments. Okay L&H we'll let it go if that's what you'd like to do. If she hasn't sprayed then I wouldn't mind trying. The way the siding is at the corner like that may make it difficult, though. Is that what you're thinking? I may have made a mistake, maybe there just aren't any other creatures around interested in a midnight exoskeleton snack to clear them away. There were approx. 30-40 dead bees.

TJ