BBKA Forum

British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • Collecting a Swarm

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #4134  by Japey Edge
 17 Jul 2019, 22:22
Caroline wrote:
17 Jul 2019, 21:38
Japey Edge wrote:
17 Jul 2019, 21:14
I've been approached today about a colony in a an old lady's house - ceiling cavity. So I'm guessing smoke is off limits.
Can take the plasterboard panel off easy enough - 4 screws.
Any hints or tips on how to get them out with minimal fuss and minimal flying about, taking minimal time?
Jazz, leave it to the professionals. BBKA does include liability insurance BUT it won't cover taking apart any part of someone's house. If any damage was caused the householder's insurance would not cover it either; leaving you to cover the costs of repair.

Taking swarms or established colonies from buildings can land you in unexpected trouble. That's why a decent pest controller will tell a householder to employ a builder to gain access to a cavity and then to 'repair' once the bees have been removed.

It all sounds exciting when first approached, but it is not something many established beekeepers will take on, and for good reason.
Hi Caroline,

Thanks for the response, I appreciate straightforward advice. They say that the cavity is accessibly via 4 screws and the panel will come straight off. Also apparently the colony had been there 9 weeks.
If that's the case, and it is as easy as unscrewing, removing the comb and bees, then screwing back up, would you still advise I stay away?

At this point I said I'd have a look, so I'll make good on that. I'll go down, maybe see how easy it is to remove that panel, then advise they get professional pest control out. Apparently a guy from the council came out but couldn't exterminate as they were honeybees..
 #4135  by Caroline
 17 Jul 2019, 23:13
Hi Jazz,

My recommendation would still be to leave well alone. Also, have the bees been identified as honey bees or are they perhaps another species?

The following website may be of use to the householder. They specialise in bee removal without harming bees. https://treebee.org.uk/

Caroline
 #4136  by Patrick
 18 Jul 2019, 00:49
Consider that relatively new wild combs are likely to be fragile and could easily break up and rip apart in a mess of bees and honey.. What if the fragile combs are attached to the panel and become dislodged as you release the panel, filling the room with bees and bits of wet comb crawling with dying bees? Can you then just close up and leave saying sorry, not your problem? Tricky.

I don't know what the facts are in this case but more generally Councils often decline to offer a free service to remove or destroy honeybees unless they present a public health hazard. Commercial companies will do it but will charge the going commercial rate. Sorry to sound unduly cynical but householders)often find the possible option of an amateur beekeeper doing it for free instead a more attractive option. They may even become rather creative in order to secure that commitment .

Do not fall for the old "I don't want the bees to be killed"guilt trip routine to sucker you in to being the only possible way to "save the bees". You may later find out that a number of local beekeepers have already been approached and declined to get involved and they are just going through the swarm collector phone book until they find someone who will resolve the problem for free. Sorry if i sound antisocial on this topic but it is one most of us have encountered and really easy to find yourself out of your depth and with a rapidly deteriorating relationship with the householder. I am with Caroline on this one.
 #4137  by Japey Edge
 18 Jul 2019, 07:34
Thank you Caroline, Patrick,

I did feel sorry for the lady and the guy made it sound quite easy, but I'm taking your advice and staying away until I get the experience, equipment, insurance and everything else needed for something like this.

I've turned it down and advised they ask on the local beekeepers association Facebook page.

They've had them identified as honeybees and they look it from the photos I was sent.
 #4139  by AdamD
 18 Jul 2019, 08:26
I have (re)- posted two cutout pictures as below which might be of interest which were originally under the 'Swarm Tracker' heading.

https://www.bbkaforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=255
 #4140  by AdamD
 18 Jul 2019, 08:33
You cannot get every swarm - sometimes they are just not accessible and will cause a nuisance if left where they are. (In town environments, in particular, that's why it makes sense to clip the wings of a queen so a swarm is rarely lost).
Some pest control companies say that they won't kill bees as "they are protected" which they aren't as far as I am aware.
 #4145  by Caroline
 18 Jul 2019, 18:59
AdamD wrote:
18 Jul 2019, 08:33
You cannot get every swarm - sometimes they are just not accessible and will cause a nuisance if left where they are. (In town environments, in particular, that's why it makes sense to clip the wings of a queen so a swarm is rarely lost).
Some pest control companies say that they won't kill bees as "they are protected" which they aren't as far as I am aware.
Adam, you are correct, bees are not legally protected and you cannot be prosecuted if you destroy bees. However it is possible to be prosecuted for the incorrect use of chemicals should they be used to destroy bees in a building and then not sealed properly and the owners notified accordingly. It is possible for some chemicals to remain 'active' within the fabric of a building for up to 5 yrs, and if an unsuspecting builder or whoever worked on the building without the correct PPE and was affected by the chemical residue, then the person who originally applied the chemical could be prosecuted.

Something I bet few people think about when destroying wasp nests etc.
 #4147  by Patrick
 18 Jul 2019, 19:11
Good call Jazz.

Glad to hear the guy was already so confident how easy it would be, means he will be able to do it nice and quickly when he does it himself then 🍻

Good point Caroline. A good beekeeping friend once advised without thinking it through, colony destruction in a house wall by pouring in petrol. Er, no.
 #4149  by Japey Edge
 18 Jul 2019, 22:27
Cheers Patrick and Caroline for the pointers. Glad I could see reason and not let my excitement lead me astray! :D

You've saved me some potential trouble!
 #4157  by AdamD
 19 Jul 2019, 11:57
Caroline wrote:
18 Jul 2019, 18:59
AdamD wrote:
18 Jul 2019, 08:33
You cannot get every swarm - sometimes they are just not accessible and will cause a nuisance if left where they are. (In town environments, in particular, that's why it makes sense to clip the wings of a queen so a swarm is rarely lost).
Some pest control companies say that they won't kill bees as "they are protected" which they aren't as far as I am aware.
Adam, you are correct, bees are not legally protected and you cannot be prosecuted if you destroy bees. However it is possible to be prosecuted for the incorrect use of chemicals should they be used to destroy bees in a building and then not sealed properly and the owners notified accordingly. It is possible for some chemicals to remain 'active' within the fabric of a building for up to 5 yrs, and if an unsuspecting builder or whoever worked on the building without the correct PPE and was affected by the chemical residue, then the person who originally applied the chemical could be prosecuted.

Something I bet few people think about when destroying wasp nests etc.
Good point - I do mention this to people with regard to, say, bees robbing from a destroyed nest can take poison back to their own one. I haven't suggested that builders could also be affected in subsequent years - even if unlikely.