A member of our association literally traps bees from walls.  He will attach
a screen cage to outside wall and carry it home each day for a few days.
Once he collected 21 pounds of bees in one day in this manner. Of course,
doesn't work very well if you need to reduce the colony to the point where
they can be robbed by other bees.
 
Be sure to tell the frantic homeowner the importance of removing the comb
and honey from the wall.  Even if the hole is plugged up other bees will
likely find another route to the cavity.  Worse, melting wax and honey could
cause expensive damage.
 
Those I've talked with who let bees rob the honey from the cavity tell me
they bring a completely different hive to avoid the chance of the bees
returning to the cavity.
 
Barry Richards
Nashville Area Beekeepers Association
http://personal.bellsouth.net/~beerich
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Fairing <[log in to unmask]>
 
>I agree, you are 100% correct. That is why the longer you have to wait,
>the better you are. In my part of the world, the nectar flow is over by 1
>July. If I were to wait 4 weeks from today there would be almost no
>nectar and the odd of this working would be reasonably good. As I stated,
>the longer the better. Unfortunately many home owners want the bees
>"Killed" no later than 3 days before they called you and a wait of 4
>weeks is out of the question. If there is a faster way of hiving these
>bees without tearing into the wall and the associated expense, I would
>like to know. I certainly am not to old to learn and am always looking
>for new tricks to try. :~)
>