Should I do a cut out on a sprayed hive?

[TwoHoneys]

I received a call from a woman who has honeybees in her house near her front door. She's already sprayed them, but they're still flying on nice days. The pictures she sent indicates that she probably doesn't have much money to spend on removal, and her home is at least a 30-40 minute drive from me.

I've never cut a hive from a structure, and I don't really know my way around home construction at all. I guess I would give it a shot if she hadn't already sprayed the bees.

Any advice about this? Is it worth my trying to collect this sprayed hive? If not, what advice would you give the homeowner?

[kathyp]

personally, i'd pass unless you can get a really good price and don't care about getting the bees.  or....you want to do it as a charity case. 

[JP]

I keep hearing on this site over and again that people should steer clear of hives that have bee sprayed. Fact is most home owners who have tried to spray them do so with a can of wasp spray from ten or more feet away and in most cases don't affect the colony in the slightest.

By all means proceed with caution but ask lots of questions such as what did you spray them with? Exactly what did you do, how did you spray them?

If its the most common answer "with wasp spray from fifteen feet away", I will take this removal any day of the week.

If they say they drilled a hole and injected a chemical or worst yet an insecticidal dust, back away as quickly as you can.

Sounds like you are most concerned with the 30-40 minute trip there Liz.


...JP

[jhs494]

One of the members of our beekeeping association mentioned that he proceeds with cut outs that have been sprayed, and gives the bees to an apitherapist if he feels they aren't worth taking the chance hiving them. The bees must get used for treatments.

JMTC

Good luck,
Joe S.

[Michael Bush]

If I find they've been sprayed, I walk away.  I always ask before I go and they usually lie...

[TwoHoneys]

I keep hearing on this site over and again that people should steer clear of hives that have bee sprayed. Fact is most home owners who have tried to spray them do so with a can of wasp spray from ten or more feet away and in most cases don't affect the colony in the slightest.

By all means proceed with caution but ask lots of questions such as what did you spray them with? Exactly what did you do, how did you spray them?

If its the most common answer "with wasp spray from fifteen feet away", I will take this removal any day of the week.

If they say they drilled a hole and injected a chemical or worst yet an insecticidal dust, back away as quickly as you can.

Sounds like you are most concerned with the 30-40 minute trip there Liz.


...JP

I'd drive further than 40 miles for something like this, JP...I want more bees and am eager to get them! But I'll have to haul my contractor friend out with me so he can show me how to access the bees (I told you...I'm lost in construction). I'll work for very little money simply for the experience and for the bees, but I'll need to pay my friend, and if the bees die and the comb is contaminated, then the overall job becomes less appealing for me because in the end I've got nothing but the experience of cutting into a house.

So, your response makes me feel as if these bees may not die. Which makes it more appealing to me again.

For those of you like Michael (and maybe me, too, I don't know yet!) who decline these jobs, what suggestions do you give the homeowner? What options does the homeowner have when it comes to getting rid of the bees?

This woman told me the truth when I asked if she'd sprayed them. She felt guilty about it, but she didn't lie about it. Because she was truthful, I hate to turn her job down without giving her good (and perhaps more affordable) options.

-Liz

[Michael Bush]

>For those of you like Michael (and maybe me, too, I don't know yet!) who decline these jobs, what suggestions do you give the homeowner? What options does the homeowner have when it comes to getting rid of the bees?

Probably an exterminator followed by a carpenter... but that's not cheap and, as you said, she doesn't have a lot of money.  But that's life.  If she's lives close and I don't have to invest a lot of gas I might look at it.

>This woman told me the truth when I asked if she'd sprayed them. She felt guilty about it, but she didn't lie about it. Because she was truthful, I hate to turn her job down without giving her good (and perhaps more affordable) options.

I would certainly appreciate honesty, as I seldom get it from people wanting me to remove bees, but it's just not a practical undertaking in my view.  More practical than when I have to drive 60 miles to find out they sprayed by smelling the insecticide and seeing all the dead bees...

[David McLeod]

I'm with JP on this. Most homeowners will empty a couple cans of raid on the returning foragers and never get any active where it counts in the core of the brood nest.
Being truthful here I have killed enough bees to say that even with the dusts (delta, drione, sevin) and a good bellows or bulb duster it is hard to get a quick and complete knockdown unless you really know how to access all areas of the comb. Even foggers are not as effective as one might think. The lllllllll of the combs leaves the center combs (always covered by bees) pretty well protected from assault from without. Now the dusts are particularly pernicious as the bees themselves will track the dust into the center of the brood nest, just don't expect instant kill. This is why many turn down these jobs as the bees are dead ladies walking.
Consider, too, that in any healthy colony there will be brood emerging in the hundreds on an almost daily basis so a homeowner can knock down almost the entire field force of the colony just to have it replaced in very short order. It would take a weekly dousing over the course of a season by the typical homeowner and a can of raid to eventually crash the colony. Use your judgement and get as much information as possible. If, in your opinion, the exposure has been minimal to the brood nest and you can get them out asap (to minimize tracking in of toxins) and get them onto clean comb then go for it. They may be sick but if exposure is minimalized they will pull through.
You also might want to take your beekeeper hat off and think about this from another angle. Yes, as a beek you want to save the ladies and bring them home to make you some money but think of a removal as just that, a removal. Screw the bees, get paid for the removal and if the bees make it then it's a plus. IMO you should always get paid more for removal of bees that have been treated as there is no guarantee of profit from honey later on.
In my line of work it's the same as if the homeowner has tried to trap his own beaver or been taking pot shots at them. I'm there for the removal, if the homeowner has educated them and made my job harder then I charge accordingly.