Thank you, Ralph.  Coning out the bees is certainly a way to go.  It's only major shortcoming is one almost never gets the queen.  Getting just the bees is of little to no interest to me - I have no problem raising my hive numbers or overwintering successfully - but I savor collecting feral queens for evaluation.   
  
I met with the building's manager yesterday and, in fact, there are two separate colonies of bees.  Their entries into the cinder blocks are immediately below the I-beam at the roof line.  I told the manager he had 3 options:

1. co-exist with the bees and thus think of themselves as being a green company
2. seal the entry cracks with mortar and entomb the bees
3. have me and his maintenance wiz on their scissor list remove the cinder blocks one by one and remove the colony in its entirety

Option 3, of course, is of the most interest to me.  The way cinder block get stacked in a wall, I think, creates long 'chimneys.'  Unless the bees can cross-over from one chimney to the next and next, the combs are most likely very narrow and run deep down the inside of the walls.  I'd love to see how the bees utilized this aspect ration of a narrow cavity to set up the nest combs...

Waldemar







Hi Waldemar;
 
I have trapped several colonies out of cinder block walls. 
 
You have to use the cone method of trapping with a hive hanging next to the  
cone. This will take six weeks (two life cycles). 
 
This is what you will need to do the job.
 
Access to the roof.
 
Lots of rope to hang the hive body next to the cone. You and tie it to air  
conditioners or other structures on the roof or use a stack of cinder blocks as 
 a mounting point. I onde used a spare tire with cinder blocks on top.
 
A frame to hold the hive body. Make one out of wood in the shape of a L and  
put the hive on the bottom of the L.
 

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