Removing Bee Hive

Tefral

Any on here in the East Clare region willing to remove a hive from an apex of roof? access can be provided. My poor parents haven't a clue what to do as they are swarming all over the cottage.

brianmc

Tefral wrote: »

Any on here in the East Clare region willing to remove a hive from an apex of roof? access can be provided. My poor parents haven't a clue what to do as they are swarming all over the cottage.

Question one is always, are you sure they’re honeybees so grab a couple of photos if you can.

Have you tried contacting a local beekeepers association? https://irishbeekeeping.ie/about-us/find-a-beekeepers-association-near-you/

If they’re recently arrived try and push someone to come as soon as possible before they get established.

Good luck!

Tefral

brianmc wrote: »

Question one is always, are you sure they’re honeybees so grab a couple of photos if you can.

Have you tried contacting a local beekeepers association? https://irishbeekeeping.ie/about-us/find-a-beekeepers-association-near-you/

If they’re recently arrived try and push someone to come as soon as possible before they get established.

Good luck!

They are defintely bees anyway. Thanks for the link theres actually an association 10 mins from the house by the looks of it.

kadman

My son has the same problem in Wicklow, a swarm in the chimney, which was in use the
winter gone by.
He contacted beekeepers to get advice or removal . They advised Rentokil pest removal, without even
going to the house.

First time I've heard bees described as pests by beekeepers. he does not want to kill them at all.

I hope you get better advice.

brianmc

kadman wrote: »

My son has the same problem in Wicklow, a swarm in the chimney, which was in use the
winter gone by.
He contacted beekeepers to get advice or removal . They advised Rentokil pest removal, without even
going to the house.

First time I've heard bees described as pests by beekeepers. he does not want to kill them at all.

I hope you get better advice.

Quick edit: I misread your post in a way that suggested the colony had been there for a year. If the swarm had arrived within the previous day or two, none of what I wrote below is relevant and it would possibly have been a much simpler job to remove them.


There are a couple of things to consider here that might surprise people. The number of beekeepers and hence the number of hives and honeybee colonies is increasing year on year for quite a while now. Honeybees are very far from being under threat or danger as a species. It’s not our honeybees that “need” saving. Social media clips and some beekeepers would certainly have you believe otherwise.

The real “bees are in trouble” issue is among many of our species of wild pollinators - bumblebees and solitary bees. Some of these species are on the verge of exrinction in Ireland due to the usual suspects of habitat loss, pesticides, etc. and need all the help they can get.

People rarely understand this distinction.

Now, I don’t want to dismiss the opportunity to save an entire colony of honeybees as though they have no intrinsic value themselves but in a chimney, this is not a small task.

IMO, to save that colony, you must be talking about cuttting out the colony, successfully saving the queen or at worst some of the brood so that they can raise a new queen of their own. To do that you will need to physically reach the actual nest.

There is a thing called a “trap out” where people will trap a lot of the bees as they leave the entrance they are using. Later they will give them another queen from another source and the result is that the genetics of that colony get lost in a few weeks but they’ve used the workers to start a new colony. As a beekeeper, I could pop out to my hives now and use bees from one or more hives to do the same and establish a likely, healthier colony.

So... to save the colony in the chimney, we need access to the actual nest of bees and we need to save the queen and preferably the brood nest too.

On a good day, you might find a beekeeper with some of the practical skills of a builder who is willing to go up on the roof and remove the chimney capping and maybe, just maybe, the bees will be right there at the top. Then starts a lot of work to try and save the combs and the bees and importantly the queen. That’s the best case scenario.

On another day, after removing the chimney cap, you can discover that the nest is quite far down the chimney. If you’re lucky you might reach it with a bee vacuum but the chances of successfully saving the colony and the queen when you can’t carefully separate the combs is much lower.

Often, you won’t be able to reach the colony at all at that point and now you’re talking about demolishing parts of the chimney to reach them.

As a beekeeper, perhaps if you were my neighbour, I might go up on the roof and try to assess it for you and who knows, I might get sucked into a rescue attempt if they were right there at the top. Otherwise, as a beekeeper, I don’t think I would take it on.

What should a person charge, if they were to offer that service commercially? Someone with the specific skills of beekeeping, working on ladders and being able to disassemble things like chimneys etc.?

As for Rentokil... my fear from going that route is how they would kill the colony. I’m not aware of the methods but I would be nervous about the combs of honey that are left behind being contaminated with a poison. Other bees will try to rob the honey from the empty nest.

Then again, the chimney should be cleared afterwards whether it’s to be used or not. Leaving the comb there would just attract another swarm straight in next season.


Sorry, for the long post. I hear people with real issues with honeybees where they’re not wanted all the time. Roofs, inside walls, chimneys etc. and I do my best to explain all of the above to them. Quite a few have learned to live with them. In some circumstances they have to make a hard decision.

It’s not the case that the beekeepers haven’t given this much consideration and are too lazy to take it on.

kadman

Thanks for the comprehensive reply.

I dont know what bees they are to be honest, nor how long they are there. They have only become noticeable
in the past few days in a chimney that has been used normally during winter months, and less so then on.

The chimney is a low level flat roof one, easily accessible for inspection.

I fully understand the different skills required to rectify the situation. But if he cant get a beekeeper to inspect
it firsthand, how is he to proceed. If he cant remove the bees alive first to remove the comb, does that mean he kills
them, and then removes the comb??

I assume Tefrals bee removal is the same, but with easier access??

brianmc

kadman wrote: »

Thanks for the comprehensive reply.

I dont know what bees they are to be honest, nor how long they are there. They have only become noticeable
in the past few days in a chimney that has been used normally during winter months, and less so then on.

Step one is definitely to identify what they are.

A chimney and recently arrived certainly suggests that they probably are honeybees. That said, a bumblebee colony would be increasing in size recently and be more visible than it was.

If they are not honeybees, the nest will reduce in numbers in the Autumn and ultimately be abandoned by Winter. Bumblebees, etc. are very unaggressive and as I mentioned some of their species are under a lot of pressure so standard advice would be to please try and just let them be for as long as possible.

Have a look here for a start on identifying them... https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057236326

kadman wrote: »

The chimney is a low level flat roof one, easily accessible for inspection.

I fully understand the different skills required to rectify the situation. But if he cant get a beekeeper to inspect
it firsthand, how is he to proceed.

Understandable. The problem for the beekeeper is this isn't much of an opportunity by the sound of it. Try asking about the local area to find a beekeeper specifically just asking them to take a look and assess the situation for him. He is likely to have more chance than if the beekeeper feels they are being pressured into a potentially difficult and unrewarding removal job. Where in Wicklow? PM if you wish.

kadman wrote: »

If he cant remove the bees alive first to remove the comb, does that mean he kills
them, and then removes the comb??

Well, if the bees can't stay where they are and the work required to remove them is too much (from either his perspective or that of available beekeepers) then bluntly - yes.

kadman wrote: »

I assume Tefrals bee removal is the same, but with easier access??

To be honest, the apex of a roof doesn't sound particularly appealing either but chimneys are notoriously difficult.

kadman

I appreciate the quick response, thanks for the help.

So first thing then is to mug shot the blighters.:D

He is just outside Rathnew

brianmc

kadman wrote: »

I appreciate the quick response, thanks for the help.

So first thing then is to mug shot the blighters.:D

He is just outside Rathnew

It's all about the photographs these days. Beekeepers get very frustrated travelling out to find that someone has a bumblebee nest or wasps and the caller isn't happy with the beekeeper because the beekeeper isn't interested.

There's an association based out of Ashford - maybe that was who he already contacted but they have a list of contacts for swarm collection here.

Sure you can always stick some photos up here for identification to start with!