This was another one of our early jobs – sadly I can’t find many photos for this honey bee cutout from a flat roof void.
I remember turning-up on a Sunday morning having no real idea of what to be expecting other than that we had been told that there were some honey bees in a flat roof and that they needed to be removed. Thankfully the roof was being replaced so we were allowed free access to it. On removing the felt and lifting the boards we came across some beautifully clean fresh looking stores – surprising as this was in early March – these girls had obviously been really productive the previous year.
We really like carrying out honey bee removal work in early spring – it benefits everybody. The wax has all been capped off and is generally stiffer than during the summer, so a lot less messy. The bees have shown themselves to be a robust colony having come thru the winter. There is a lot less honey to be dealing with as the bees will have been using it over winter. The bees are not so fast to have a go and like to cluster together. The only downside to it is the weather, its not clever being up on a wet slippery roof on a windy day, and bee suits don’t offer much protection when the rain makes them cling to your skin and the wind is blowing the mesh hood right up against your face.
Once we had cleared the bees and honey stores from the roof void we then needed to clean up the comb running down into the cavity. As well they were repairing the roof this year rather than next getting to that comb in the cavity would not be clever.
Unusually we took a picture of the re homed honey bees in their hive in the apiary.
For further information on bee removal and relocation please use the contact form in the side bar
If you are looking for more information on removing bees from roofs then please look at our article Honey bees in roof, if you have a problem with bees in your chimney then try starting with our article Removing bees in a chimney, if you have bees in a wall our page Honey bees in walls maybe of use.
For additional examples on removals of honey bee nests from other more unusual places check out our blog page Honey Bee Removal Blog and search for “unusual bee removals”.
