Trapping bees from houses???

[talkingamoeba]

Hello!
I have bees inthe second story wall of my house. They have been there since at least 2004. I've caught 7 swarms from them, they've swarmed at least 9 times as I've missed on two. I believe them to be good survivor stock but the other years swarms never made it to Spring in my newbee hives. The swarm I got last year is still alive.
After all that now the question, I need to re-side the house and would like to remove the bees and hive them if I can. A cut-out won't work as the entrance is outside (obviously), but in a wall that had a kitchen added on and is now a mostly interior wall. Are there any links for ideas for making this work? Like a trap-transfer set up?
Question #2 My Great Uncle is just up the road and has a colony in his wall and has asked if I might try to get them out. No cut-out here either, but plenty of room for a platform. Best ways to get them? I don't have a bee vac. I don't mind waiting the weeks for a trap or transfer to work as long as they could be ready for winter in the new hive. I just don't know where to begin. There are no other houses or people around so confused bees would not pose any hazards. Thanks for your time.

[kathyp]

you have to get the hive out of the wall.  if you do not, the honey and wax will melt down in there and you'll have a mess.  if you can't cut the hive out, you are probably better to leave it and let them tend to it.

i just read a description of an abandoned hive in a wall.  i thought it was good.  it said that it would be the equivalent of unplugging your refrigerator and leaving it full of food........

[Michael Bush]

I've tried cone traps on trees and walls.  You can get some bees, but you can't get the queen and you can't get the honey out of the wall that way...

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesferal.htm#conemethod

[CBEE]

The good part is you are catching swarms from them.... The bad part.. ya gotta get them out of the wall.. looks like you are between a wall and a hard spot

[JP]

Mr. Amoeba, you have to get the hives out. They have to be physically removed. The first thing you need to do is identify EXACTLY where the colony resides before you or anyone else takes action. I haven't seen your set up and I know you said they're in the wall but you say you have a two story house right? On two storys they are rarely in the wall but in between the two floors or the soffit, eave. I'm not saying this is the case but it needs to be determined where they are. if you leave the hives, you will have issues that you don't want, to name a few: roaches, ants, rodents, honey dripping and staining, fermenting honey odor and other hives that will be attracted to your house like a magnate. Leaving the old hive in the wall is a not an option, unless the colony was very young, but this is usually very difficult to determine by most people. I had a lady tell me she had a hive that was in an area of her bldg for 2 days, but I wound up pulling out three boxes worth of comb from the area and I could sit here and bore you with other examples, but I won't do that to you. If I can be of help you can pm me or simply ask more questions here and we can all possibly help with you and your great uncle's situation. Let us know. Some typical scenarios:






The last one is one that was in a wall. You really don't want to leave something like that in your wall trust me.


Sincerely, JP

[talkingamoeba]

Thanks everyone! I haven't a camera or knowledge of posting pictures (I'm just a dumb farmer ) but JP was kind enough to provide me some I can use to better illustrate. The bottom picture with the long combs between studs is the closest to what I've got in our house. If you move the window closer to the comb area, so that there is about room for the type colony you have pictured before the cement block kitchen wall addition intersects with the old house. The rest of the wall, if you look to the viewer's right, is now behind kitchen cabinets on one side and childrens bedrooms on the other. If the bees built between the studs as those in JP's photo did, I think I should encounter what the photo shows. I just wasn't able to visualize until seeing the photo. If that is what I have I would be able to get to them from outside.
So where do I start? Obviously not today, but when it's warm enough so the bees won't freeze (it's 11 deg. F). Depending on stud spacing, I will probably only have the stud by the window and one more at the junction of the kitchen wall for space. Thanks again!

[JP]

When the bees are flying you know its the right time to fool with them. If they'e not flying they're in a cluster trying to keep warm. If you have any more questions feel free. Btw, I would First Id where the hive is for sure, if in wall, they most often, almost always build from top to bottom, so start at the top, and work downwards. Have proper protection, have the right tools and a bucket of water to wipe honey from your tools, like scrapers. A beevac comes in handy on a large hive. If no beevac, spray them with sugarwater to keep them from flying so much and brush them in the box.

....JP