This page explains different ways we use to remove Bees. Honeybees are in danger in the USA, and are protected. We do not kill honeybees. They can be removed and put into beehives. Since we are beekeepers as well as bee removers, we have a place for them! There are THREE main methods for bee removal:  ”trapouts” and “cutouts”, and “swarm removal”.

TRAPOUTS. In a trapout (Also called a “funnel job”), a one-way gate is attached to the building where the bees are located. The bees can only leave; they cannot enter. At the same time, a commercial beehive is mounted on a simple scaffold right next to the entrance of the hive in the building. The bees slowly leave the building, and adopt the commercial hive as their new home. This process takes quite a while, from 4 to 6 weeks. During this time, the food supply has been cut off from the hive; returning foragers cannot enter with supplies. Therefore the hive has to eat up whatever honey it has stored to survive. At the end of the process, all that remains in the hive are empty combs made of beeswax, which can remain without causing any problem. for this method to work, the entire area around the hive entrance must be carefully sealed off. If the bees find even one tiny hole, they will use it and go around the one-way gate. This method has two great advantages. First, there is no damage to the building. Second, for it to work the area around must be successfully sealed off, which means no new swarms of bees can enter that area in the future. This is important because bees are always attracted by smell to old hive sites. Overall, we consider the trapout to be the best method for colony removal, although it is more difficult and requires much more expertise.

 

CUTOUTS. We often do “cutouts”. A cutout involves opening up the wall, ceiling, soffit, etc. where the colony is located, and cutting out all the bee combs, removing all the bees (often with the help of a special vacuum), and removing all the debris. For example, if the colony is located in the ceiling between floors, it can only be reached from the inside by cutting out a piece of the sheetrock ceiling, or removing a part of the flooring on the second floor. This method has the advantage of speed; it takes only one day to complete. Of course, unlike a Trapout, it does damage the building, which is an extra expense to repair.

Sometimes honeybees enter into the rock facing on buildings which have rockwork exteriors. This often requires the “trapout” method of removal, because it is too hard to remove the rockwork and replace it, AND because of the way such walls are constructed, going from the inside of the house does not work well.

Looking up, combs in ceiling (sheetrock cut away)

SWARM REMOVAL. A “swarm” is different from a “colony” or “hive”. When a honeybee colony decides to reproduce, it splits into two parts. Roughly half the bees (about 10,000 to 30,000) fly away to start a new colony. The first thing they do is rest in a tree or bush very near the parent colony. They stay there until “scouts” have located a new home site. Swarms look like a large mass of bees. They will usually leave for their new home within a few minutes up to a few days. Sometimes, if the queen cannot fly well, they will remain where they are and start building honeycombs right there. When they start combs, they become a “colony”. We remove SWARMS for free if they are not too far away or difficult to reach. They are of value to us, since we keep bees for honey and pollen production.