Honey Bee Removal

Removing Honey Bees from Unwanted Places

While honey bees naturally choose to nest in trees, the adaptability of the Western honey bee Apis mellifera enables it to nest in (almost) any cavity; Honey bee hives can be found from roof soffits to tree limbs to the underside of trampolines and dog kennels.

This article will explore methods used by beekeepers to remove a bee colony. In areas where beekeepers are not avaiable, pest control operators may be used to relocate the bees, or perhaps they’ll call on their beekeeper buddies to remove the colony for them. Using pesticides to kill the bees is rarely necessary and is the last resort.

How Beekeepers Remove Established Colonies from Structures

Beekeepers aim to preserve and relocate the colony to a more suitable location, such as an apiary. There are two methods to achieve this, and they depend on the complexity of the job:

• “Cutouts” physically cut the comb from the structure and house it elsewhere. It is a quick method of removing the honey bee population.

• “Trapouts” humanely remove bees from a structure over a period of days or weeks, and is used when conducting cutouts is not possible or desirable.

• For an unestablished colony (swarm), the beekeeper can collect swarms and relocate them into a temporary box and later permanent hive.

Honey Bee Removal Using the Cutout Method

The basis of the cutout method relies on the honey bee colony being in an-easy-to access location, such as an outhouse, garden bed or garbage bin. An example cutout removal process:

1. Locating the colony. If they are not obviously visible, identifying the nest can be done by tapping the structure and listening for the buzzing bees.

   1. More advanced techniques use an infrared camera to detect their heat emissions.

2. Accessing the colony. Obstructions are removed, whether by cutting into the structure or moving objects around. This is a delicate operation as it can damage the bees and comb architecture, and can be further complicated as a result of beserking bees flying.

3. Removing the colony. This is the creative aspect. In most cases, bees can removed using a bee vacuum, or by brushing them into a container.

4. Removing the colony comb. Once a sufficient number of bees are removed, the beekeeper can begin cutting the wax comb out of the cavity without causing damage to the structure.

   1. Depending on the size and stability of the comb, it can be rubber-banded into wireless Langstroth frames and placed into a hive box to help the colony establish itself at its new location.

   2. This rehousing process is made easier if the queen is found and placed into the new hive. The bees follow the pheromones and any remaining workers will readily follow her.

5. Cleaning & repairing the structure. To prevent attracting other swarms and pests from the cavity, all comb and honey traces should be cleared and the structure repaired with potential entrance holes sealed.

Removal Via the Trapout Method

When cutting out the honey bees is not feasible or possible, (for example, the colony is in the roof space [soffits] or interior walls) there is the trapout method. This procedure slowly removes the bees from their location in a non-destructive manner, and an example process is as follows:

1. Locating the hive entrance. Unlike the cutout method, the trapout works by identifying all possible entrance points. The unused entry points are then sealed using a bee-proof material such as a metal mesh, so that only the main hive entrance remains.

   • A structure may have multiple entry points despite only one being used. The unaware bee removalist working at this first location only will quickly see the bees emerging from another entrance.

2. Preparing the relocation hive box. The bee removalist may wish to re-establish the honey bees in a new hive. To do this, a hive box containing honey and brood frames is placed close to the structure.

   • The scent of the brood comb will make this box more enticing to the bees who are caught out during the trapout process.

3. Constructing a one-way exit for the bees. As the foraging honey bees exit, they should not be able to return. Successful homemade designs include the construction of a PVC pipe funnel with an arrowhead at one end, or a cone that is one-bee long (~12mm) at its apex. The wide end of the cone is attached over the entrance to the colony, and the narrow end is where bees escape.

   • If the colony is in a tree, the trapout can be conducted with modifications to a hive box as shown in the Price trap-out method.

4. Waiting for the bees to move. Over a period of days or weeks, any bees that leave the original colony will not be able to return, and gradually they will establish themselves in the new hive. Depending on the chosen method, some beekeepers may be able to lure the queen out of the structure as well, and once she is in the box, the remaining bees readily follow suit.

5. Removing the original colony. Once hive entrance activity ceases, the bee box is moved to an apiary and the structure can be opened up to clean and remove any remaining comb.

   1. As with the cutout method, removing the remaining comb is vital in reducing the risk of attracting other bees and pests.

Swarm Removal

Swarming is the natural reproductive process of honey bees. The workers place the old queen on a weightloss regimen by reducing her feeding frequency, and preparing her for flight. Once the new queen(s) emerge from their cells, the now-slim queen departs and takes around half of the bees with her to a nearby location, at which point the worker bees begin scouting for a suitable new site. It is a race between the beekeeper’s preparedness and the swarm’s decision making to determine whether that site will lead to bees in a hive box or bees in trees.

An example swarm catching scenario is as follows:

1. Preparation. Proper equipment includes a suitable container such as a hive or cardboard box, and protective clothing.

2. Capture. the absence of a hive to defend makes swarming bees quite docile. The beekeeper may move the bees into the box by shaking the tree limb or object they cling to, or by gently scooping & brushing them into the box.

   1. For more complex collections, such as high in trees, reach poles, ladders and creativity may be required.

3. Collection. If the queen is inside the box, the rest of the swarm will follow. Otherwise the box is left near the swarm to enable the remaining bees to slowly move into it.

4. Transporting & Relocating. Once the majority of bees are in the box, it is sealed and transported to where the bees are to be installed into their new home, using the same shaking or scooping methods.

A Word on Safety Equipment

Bees sting. Stings hurt, and those who are allergic to stings are in for a world of hurt. No surprise, right? If you’ll be removing bees yourself, or watching someone do so, it wouldn’t hurt to invest in protective equipment:

• Wear a bee suits and gloves.
  • If you choose to ignore this part, at least put on a veil to keep your face looking pretty
• Do not attempt removal without protection if you’re inexperienced (or even if you’re experienced, one slip up is all it takes).
• Keep children, pets and childish pets away during the removal process.

Distinguishing Between a Swarm or Colony

Differentiating between the two is a matter of time. If the bees have been in the location for a few days, they are likely to be a swarm in search of a new home. If its a swarm, there’s no need to remove it, they’ll move on shortly. However, once this duration becomes “weeks” and “months”, then that swarm can be deemed established within that property, and had begun colony-building activities. Colonies are much harder to remove than swarms, and the cutouts and trapouts listed above are highly recommended approaches.

How Honey Bees Build a Hive on Properties

Without wax foundation frames to aid them, bees build their hives naturally. The created combs are separated with respect to bee space; 3/8 inch or 9-10 mm between each comb. The bees commence construction from the top down, with workers secreting wax from the plates in their abdomen.

The wax cells are used for brood rearing, storing pollen, or storing honey. Without beekeeper intervention, the bees construct cells and comb lengths to their preferred size and cavity capacity.

A Colony in a Soffit?

A soffit is the section of the roof that overhangs the surface. If a scout bees were to find one with a small hole or crack that leads to a hollow space inside, she can signal to the swarm that a suitable location has been found. If the remaining bees are convinced, they will enter the space and begin building comb. Once the queen commences egg laying, the colony is deemed established.

Comparing Bee vs Wasp Colony Removal

Bees and some wasp species may look similar to each other. The primary difference between a honey bee like A. mellifera and a nesting wasp species like the yellow jacket wasp (genera Vespula and Dolichovespula) lays in their appearance. Bees appear fuzzy as a result of hairs¹ on a round body and a golden/brown colouring and darker abdominal bands. By contrast, yellow jacket wasps have a smooth body with a defined, thin waist and are brightly coloured in yellow and black patterns.

Nesting Locations

Honey bees build nests in tree cavities, hollow walls, or managed hives. Their nests are made from self-produced wax. Yellow Jacket wasps build nests in the ground, hollow trees, or within eaves and attics. Their nests are made of a paper-like material from chewed wood and wasp saliva.

Nest Structure & Colony Size

A honey bee hive is composed of multiple hexagonal wax cells arranged vertically on the combs. Yellow Jackets nests’ are a series of rounded combs stacked in tiers. Their combs are enclosed by a paper-like shell with a single entrance hole.

Honey bees have larger colonies than Yellow Jackets, consisting of tens of thousands of bees, compared to the several thousand wasps inside a nest.

Life Cycle

Honey bee colonies can survive for many years in the same location, so long as the queen remains healthy and the colony has sufficient resources. Yellow jacket wasp colonies are annual, as only the queen survives the winter, and emerges in the spring to start a new colony.

Aggressiveness

Both species are stinging insects. With exceptions like the Africanized bees, Honey bees are generally docile and will not sting unless they perceive a threat to their hive. A honey bee can sting warm-blooded animals only once, as it dies after stinging. Yellow jacket wasps are more aggressive, especially if their nest is threatened. They sting multiple times and cam chase a perceived threat for longer distances than honey bees.

What to do When Honey Bees Nest in Unwanted Places

This article covered live bee removal and the methods involved in performing them. A comparison between the cutout and trapout methods were made, as well as swarm catching. Swarming is a natural part of the colony lifecycle, and if bees can’t find a suitable tree, they will look for the next-best cavity.

I know you’re probably expecting an ethical statement about the importance of honey bees and so on… alas, A. mellifera is not that important in many regions (Australia being an example), and is an introduced species that has shown harm to the native bees as a result of competition. The native bee crowd would love me for this, as the loss of the colony, while a “humane tragedy”, is no big deal in the grand scheme of things. I believe that A. mellifera is the one bee species we don’t have to worry about due to its global abundance.

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Footnotes

1. Some melittologists (“bee scientists”) hypothesise that it is the presence of hairs which allowed bees to distinguish themselves from their wasp ancestry. The hairs are finely branched and suited to trap pollen particles as the bee moved between flowers, leading to their evolutionary success. Note that hairy flower wasps (Family: Scoliidae) exist, and can be deemed as the link between bees and wasps. Further reading on this topic is available in Thor Hanson’s Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees (2018). ↩︎