Hello Beekeepers;
        I just wanted to share my experiences in killing off a colony
this week using dry ice. I have been following this thread with keen
interest, as I have an overly mean hive in the apiary to dispose of.
I followed the best advice given here, in my opinion, and obtained a block
of about three pounds of dry ice. I simply placed this on the inner
cover over the small center opening. The entrance was first sealed
off with the reducer strip of wood. Then a large industrial sized plastic
trashbag was used to engulf the two deep hive bodies. The bottom
edges were drawn taught and taped to the bottomboard. This was done
at dusk last night and and it took about 10 minutes. The carbon dioxide gas
immediately anesthetized the bees and they were silent within about
fifteen to twenty minutes. I was not sure how long it would take to
completely suffocate them, so I left the hive in this condition until this
evening. About 98% of the bees were dead, and the survivors were not
a problem. I cleaned up the sections with a beebrush and scrapper.
While there was some moisture, and wet bees, it was not a problem.
This is a simple and effective method and does not rely on any toxic
chemicals. My equipment is now ready for some new gentle stock!

Thanks for the good advice Lane Westover, Scott Moser, and
Adrain Wenner.

Tom Hochheimer
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Chester County (southeastern), PA
40.0 N, 75.5 W