Honey bees

[Hoot Owl]

HH use what you have for swarm traps. If you make a box just for catching swarms you will have to move them to the hive box you use. One more chance to kill the queen. Also swarms grow fast. I have had boxes just for swarms and got tired of having to move them to another box each time. Now I use the same 10 frame deep they will stay in, for my swarm traps. If they are a large swarm all you have to do is add another box. I have caught swarms that filled 2 deep boxes.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

My bees decided its spring.

 

[tallyho8]

I don't like to hijack the thread but I have bees living in one of the hollow brick columns on my front porch. I have checked under my soffit and in my attic and no signs of bees there. I think the only entrance to the column is where the bees are entering. I am about to drill a hole through the mortar in the column to see if I can see honey or anything inside.

I contacted a guy who removes bees and he wanted a fortune to remove them. I called an exterminator and he was real cheap but I don't want to kill them. If they are just filling up the column with honey, is there any reason I can't just leave them alone?

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I personally would not want to have bees on my porch. I would think that would be quite the liability. But I guess that's a personal preference thing. They will probably leave you alone most of the time except for mid-summer and late fall. They might get feisty then. If they have just moved in I would take care of it soon. If they get established for very long at all then die, you will probably be dealing with bugs and a smell for a while.

You could probably work out a way to install a bee escape on the entrance which works like a 1 way door. When the foragers go out they would not be able to get back in. That might reduce the numbers enough that they might want to abscond. If they don't all abscond the hive will eventually die. You might put a hive with attractant close by if you do the escape, the foragers might settle into the hive provided out of desperation. Of course they may just find another way in too...

 

[Hoot Owl]

LBBJ is correct.
If they move out or you kill them you will have all of the old comb, honey and pollen inside the brick column. Then you will have yellow jacket's and mice getting in to clean it out.

Yes I do removals and they are not cheap but there is a lot of HOT, hard work involved.
Most of the time it takes weeks until the hive is reestablished and even then they have to have feed.
The first time someone gets stung you will be rethinking about what should have been done.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

can you smoke them out, then fill the hole? look up bee smoker.

 

[alexpops]

The first time someone gets stung you will be rethinking about what should have been done.

Especially if the person stung is allergic to bee stings. My dad discovered he was allergic at about 40 ... almost died from the swelling in his throat within 15 minutes of being stung.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

That is a candidate for a trap out. A cutout will require demolishing that column. Even trap outs can be less than reliable.

If the bees die in there and the honey not removed, you will have other pests working to get in there, the stench of thousands of dead bee larvae is incredible.

Not an easy solution.

 

[cqaigy2]

I'd want them removed then seal up the area to make sure they can't get back in. I'd check around for other places too and seal those up too.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

There is a good chance just because they are going in right at the corner of the column they aren't neccesarily living in the actual column. They could be in between the rafters on the porch roof structure, much easier tear out than removing the column. An easy way to find out would be to take out that vent right there and have a look. I would suit up though.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

There is a good chance just because they are going in right at the corner of the column they aren't neccesarily living in the actual column. They could be in between the rafters on the porch roof structure, much easier tear out than removing the column. An easy way to find out would be to take out that vent right there and have a look. I would suit up though.

2nd sentence.
“I have checked under my soffit and in my attic and no signs of bees there.”

 

[tallyho8]

Bee bricks in Brighton, UK to support habitats for bees in all new buildings

 

[tallyho8]

That vent leads to the crawl space in my attic. I have gone into the crawl space and found no bees.

There is a good chance just because they are going in right at the corner of the column they aren't neccesarily living in the actual column. They could be in between the rafters on the porch roof structure, much easier tear out than removing the column. An easy way to find out would be to take out that vent right there and have a look. I would suit up though.

2nd sentence.
“I have checked under my soffit and in my attic

 

[ponytug]

Bee bricks in Brighton, UK to support habitats for bees in all new buildings

View attachment 785302

I think those are "bee bricks", that are closed tubes for leaf cutter and mason bees, i.e. the tubes don't just go into a wall cavity.

» Bee Bricks Best Practice Hub

ccsbestpractice.org.uk

I was taught that it was better to use disposable reed or paper tubes to cut down on parasites, like these;

Raising Mason Bees: Do's and Don'ts - Backyard Beekeeping

Raising mason bees is as simple as buying or making suitable housing and placing it where it will be discovered by the bees that already live in your area. If you don’t buy mason bees, starting is a bit slower, but the results are worth the wait.

backyardbeekeeping.iamcountryside.com

But I am not an expert.

There are family stories of what a disaster it was when bees got into my great aunt's attic space and nobody noticed until honey start dripping down on the ladies during coffee hours. Rumor was many hundreds of pounds of honey, new ceiling, and fun was had by all...

All the best,

Peter

 

[HawkinsHollow]

That vent leads to the crawl space in my attic. I have gone into the crawl space and found no bees.

Gotcha! Sorry missed that one.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Woooo, the bees are pulling in buckets of pollen! Fed back all of the honey we kept in reserve last fall. Busy for the first week of March

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

It looks like you are about 2-3 weeks behind us here in AR. We've got clover blooming already.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

It looks like you are about 2-3 weeks behind us here in AR. We've got clover blooming already.

We are in zone 6, and we are about a week ahead of where we typically are. This has been a warm past 6 weeks

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Cut 186 frame side bars today! They are all 3/8” wide… that’s a lot of ripping on the table saw

 

[Hoot Owl]

I feel your pain, at least a few weeks ago I did.
I have all of my equipment built for this year. 800 deep frames,1000 honey supper frames and enough boxes, tops and bottoms for 70 more hives. Today I washed out 20 frame feeders and mixed up 10 gal. 1 to 1 sugar water. Going to do my first deep inspections tomorrow after noon. Also drove in 5 T post and top bars for my home yard. I will start rehanging the Woven fence tomorrow morning.