Larry,
 
Enjoyed your story, also brought back some memories of long ago.  It always
seems to me that once a beekeeper gains enough confidence, he/she is ready
to tackle one of those bee removal jobs.  And when I hear this, it is good
that you do have the cofidence to try.  And I think all beekeepers ought to
try their hand at bee removals.
Why should only a few of us suffer through these disasters and
humiliations!  <grin>
 
billy bee
 
----------
> From: Larry Morris <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: novice bee removal story
> Date: Thursday, September 11, 1997 10:17 AM
>
> I enjoyed reading Brian Myers' experiences as a novice beekeeper;
> I'm in much the same situation, my first year with two hives (came
> with the new farm I bought!) in North Georgia. Considering
> yesterday's intimate experiences with the bees, I thought this
> might be a good time for me to "de-lurk" as well.
>
> With only two struggling hives and an empty hive body, I was
> interested in perhaps catching a swarm (other hives too weak to
> split). But my pest control guy knew I was looking, and mentioned
> that he'd had a call for honeybees in the wall of a house...so...
>
> (experienced beekeepers now begin to chuckle, recognizing the
> setup for an embarrassing and painful experience...)
>
> Sure, I said, why not. I realized the *right* way to do it was
> with a bait hive and screen cone, but I didn't want to risk one
> of my only two hives as a bait hive, so I decided to do it the
> hard way and go in after them.
>
> Got there and met the owners, nice folks with persistent bees.
> They'd actually had someone clean the combs out before, but
> they were back (possibly a new swarm?) Second story, no way to
> get in from inside, bees inside the siding and sheathing board.
>
> Donning the trusty bee suit and veil, I climbed the rickety
> ladder, got siding off, cut the sheathing out (note: electric
> saber saws tend to upset bees ;-) and pulled it off. A *huge*
> colony, filling all the space between the studs and overflowing.
>
> I had visions of carefully cutting each comb off, examining for
> the queen, and gently rubberbanding them into frames. Hah. If
> these weren't "killer bees" they were at least clearly *pissed*.
> A healthy defensive instinct, I'd say.
>
> The bee veil wasn't sufficiently tight. It's possible that NO
> bee veil is sufficiently tight to stop 200+ kamikaze bees.
> The job rapidly became: frantically cut comb, drop it into a
> garbage pail suspended nearby, CAREFULLY climb down the ladder
> while receiving multiple stings, then RUN, deciding whether to
> be more afraid of the few bees inside the veil/suit or the many
> on the outside!
>
> I finally loaded as much brood/honeycomb as I could into a cooler
> and grabbed my tools. I don't think I got the queen, though, the
> beehive extended up above where I could get the siding off (into
> the attic?) and I suspect she moved up there. I explained to the
> couple I'd cut all the comb I could reach, but they may still need
> an exterminator; I'd had all I could take, with about a dozen+
> stings.
>
> I deposited the bees + comb rather haphazardly into my waiting
> brood box at home; the bees were in multiple small clusters, so
> I suspect I did miss the queen; but I may try giving them a frame
> of new brood from another hive and see what they can do; I probably
> got a couple pounds of bees.
>
> So anyway, I suppose I'm well-initiated into the joys of beekeeping
> now! Examining a nice, well-organized frame hive doesn't seem nearly
> so intimidating at this point. Don't think I'll be volunteering for
> any more bee extraction efforts soon, though... ;-)
>
> Still itching,
> -Larry Morris
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