Subject: Help,please!

From: [email-masked] (Catherine T Holley)
Date: 16 Apr 1994 00:06:32 GMT

I hope that this group will be able to help us out on a problem. If I'm in the 
wrong place, then just ignore this post. 3-4 years ago, a swarm of honey bees 
moved into the cinder blocks that make up our chimney.  They're not in the 
chimney pipe, just the "honeycomb" that the cinderblocks form.  Every few days 
one of the bees gets lost and works its way into the house, not really a 
problem for us, but deadly for the bee since they can't get out or get back 
into the hive.  How do we get them out of the chimney without tearing it down? 
I don't want to destroy an entire hive of bees; something seems very criminal 
in this.  I just want them out of the block.  We live in a log cabin and I'm 
afraid that the honey will draw other unwanted guests that might find the logs 
an excellent home or an excellent addition to a meal.  Any suggestions?

Cathy Holley  [email-masked]

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From: rspear@sookit (Richard Spear)
Date: 19 Apr 1994 16:33:25 GMT

Catherine T Holley ([email-masked]) wrote:

: I hope that this group will be able to help us out on a problem. If I'm in the 
: wrong place, then just ignore this post. 3-4 years ago, a swarm of honey bees 
: moved into the cinder blocks that make up our chimney.  They're not in the 
: chimney pipe, just the "honeycomb" that the cinderblocks form.  Every few days 
: one of the bees gets lost and works its way into the house, not really a 
: problem for us, but deadly for the bee since they can't get out or get back 
: into the hive.  How do we get them out of the chimney without tearing it down? 
: I don't want to destroy an entire hive of bees; something seems very criminal 
: in this.  I just want them out of the block.  We live in a log cabin and I'm 
: afraid that the honey will draw other unwanted guests that might find the logs 
: an excellent home or an excellent addition to a meal.  Any suggestions?

: Cathy Holley  [email-masked]

cathy -

there are traps that will help you to remove most of the bees, but the
honey and brood (and queen) will remain. the honey and brood will draw all
kinds of other insects over a long period of time . . . and as the wax
breaks down the honey (by now quite a bit, i presume) will begin to run,
making a mess.

this is a worst case scenario, but i had a swarm in the house wall and all
that i have described happened. i waited it out, lived with the odors and
ants, and eventually the situation stabilized. the ants do a wonderful job!

you may want to dissemble the brickwork to gain access to the hive and
remove it. the beekeeper who does this will be happy to move the bees into
a commercial hive so that you can begin to be a beekeeper.

regards, richard

[email-masked]
all disclaimers apply