Honey Bee Proofing & Reinstatement
What We Do – and What We Don’t
We are specialists in honey bee removal. That is what we have spent 20 years developing knowledge and experience in, and it is what we do better than most. We are not a building contractor, we do not claim to be, and we will tell you honestly when you need one.
What we bring to the proofing and reinstatement process is something a building contractor doesn’t have – a deep understanding of why bees chose that specific location, what they need to access it, and what will actually prevent them returning. That knowledge shapes every decision we make on site.
We are not the most knowledgeable people in the world on every aspect of this work. There will always be someone who knows more about a particular building material or construction technique. But we know enough to do this job properly, to know when something is beyond our scope, and to tell you so honestly rather than do it badly or charge you for work that isn’t needed.
What We Do:
We take out as few bricks as needed to do the job properly.
We put back what we removed.
We use commonsense solutions for redundant flues.
We do not recommend expensive unnecessary work.
We will tell you honestly if something needs a local specialist – particularly lime mortar work or roof repairs beyond the immediate access point, which are better carried out by someone local who isn’t working against a travel clock.
Why Proofing Matters
A honey bee colony leaves behind a powerful and persistent scent from the wax, propolis and honey of the nest. That scent acts as a beacon – any passing swarm the following season will detect it and investigate the same entry point. Without effective proofing, a successfully removed colony is simply replaced by a new one.
This is not a theoretical risk. We see it regularly. The removal was done, nothing was done about the entry point, and twelve months later there are bees in the same place again.
Proofing is not always complicated or expensive. In many cases the right answer is straightforward – the right mesh in the right place, a redundant flue capped correctly, a repointed joint. The skill is knowing what is actually needed for that specific structure, not applying a generic solution that creates new problems.
The Scent Problem
The comb and propolis scent from a removed colony can persist for years. A 4 to 4.5mm gap – easily found in old tiles, slates or degraded mortar – is all a new swarm needs to reoccupy the same space. This is why proofing cannot be an afterthought and why the approach taken needs to be appropriate to the specific building.
What We Do on the Day
On completion of every removal we carry out whatever proofing and reinstatement is within our scope and appropriate for that structure. This includes:
On lime mortar:
We carry lime mortar and can use it for straightforward repointing on the day.
But skilled lime mortar work on historic or listed structures is a specialist craft – temperature-dependent, time-consuming and best done by a local tradesperson experienced in the material.
We will tell you when that applies.
What We Don’t Do
We are not roofing contractors. If access for the bee removal has required tile or slate removal and the roof needs repair work beyond straightforward replacement, we will advise you to use a local roofer. We are not local to most of our jobs, which means any time we spend on building work beyond our scope costs you more than it should.
We will not recommend work that isn’t needed. If a structure doesn’t need proofing beyond what we’ve already done, we will say so. If a guarantee is being offered by someone else and it isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, we will explain why – and we frequently do.
What Actually Works – The Technical Reality
A lot of what circulates online about bee proofing is either wrong or unhelpful. Here is what we actually know from 20+ years of doing this work.
Mesh Sizing – Why It Matters
To prevent honey bee access you need to ensure there are no gaps larger than 4.5mm, with certainty at 4mm. The relationship between gap size and bee exclusion is specific and measurable:
Gap Size | What Happens |
8mm+ | “Bee Space” – Bees will build comb in this gap |
5.5mm | Will not exclude workers. They can pass through freely |
5.0mm | Excludes drones and queens, but workers can still pass through |
4.2mm – 4.3mm | Standard queen excluder size. Workers pass, queens stay |
< 4.0mm | Total exclusion. No honey bee (worker, drone, or queen) can pass |
Beekeepers will be familiar with these dimensions from equipment like queen excluders (4.3mm wire spacing) and pollen traps (5mm mesh). For complete exclusion from a building, gaps must be smaller than 4mm.
We use stainless steel mesh significantly smaller than 4mm – it lasts, it doesn’t corrode, and it can be fixed in a way that still allows the building to breathe where that is required.
Live Flues – Building Regulations Apply
This is where some operators get it dangerously wrong.
No mesh with a gap small enough to exclude bees should be fitted to a terminal serving a live natural draught open-flued appliance. Building Regulations Section J paragraph 3.25 is explicit on this – the minimum mesh size for a protective cage on a solid fuel flue is 6mm, which is larger than the 4.5mm needed to exclude bees. Any mesh that would exclude bees from a live solid fuel flue contravenes building regulations and is dangerous.
For gas appliances a smaller gauge mesh can be considered, but advice from the cowl manufacturer should be obtained first to avoid third-party liability implications.
Anyone fitting insect-proof mesh to a live flue terminal is contravening building regulations, potentially voiding your insurance and creating a genuine safety risk. We do not do this and we will not be persuaded to.
Redundant flues:
For flues that are not in use there is an excellent cap available that allows airflow within the flue while preventing bee and water ingress. We use these regularly as part of our standard reinstatement. They are inexpensive, proven and correct for the purpose.
Buildings Need to Breathe
Sealing every possible entry point sounds like the obvious answer. It isn’t. Buildings – particularly older properties – rely on airflow through the fabric to manage moisture. Blocking ventilation paths, filling cavities indiscriminately or using the wrong materials can create damp, condensation and wood rot that costs far more to fix than the original bee problem.
As Wikipedia notes of roof spaces: unoccupied attics should be ventilated to reduce heat and moisture accumulation that contributes to mould and decay. The same principle applies more broadly. Our approach takes this into account – practical proofing that reduces reinfestation risk without creating a worse problem.
What Can and Can’t Be Proofed
It seems like its only common sense that someone employed to carry out a live honey bee removal would have a full understanding of what to consider when reinstating and proofing against a re infestation.
Yet regularly we hear of foolish actions showing little thought.
Nice as it would be to be able to just fill a cavity wall so that nothing could occupy it, it is not quite so straightforward.
Air and moisture movement needs to be considered, so as not to cause condensation and damp problems further down the road.
As a quick reference see wikipedia “unoccupied attics should usually be ventilated to reduce the accumulation of heat and moisture that contribute to mold growth and decay of wood rafters and ceiling joists”.
Obviously its more complicated than this blunt quote but that’s a whole area of discussion and research.
The good news is that there are a few things that can be done that will go a long way towards the prevention of the honey bees returning without causing possible damp issues and wood rot in the future. These can be best discussed on site on completion of the removal prior to the proofing & reinstatement process.
What Can and Can’t Be Proofed
Chimneys and brick cavity walls are relatively straightforward to proof effectively. Redundant flues can be capped. Specific entry points through mortar joints or airbricks can be addressed directly.
Old clay tile roofs and some slate roofs are a different matter. Sealing a specific section is achievable. Proofing an entire old clay tiled roof against bee entry is not practical or economical – there are too many potential gaps and any attempt to seal them all would require work disproportionate to the problem.
What can be done for these structures is to reduce the likelihood of reoccurrence – addressing the specific entry point used, removing the scent attraction where possible, and making the space less attractive. That is a realistic outcome. A guarantee that bees will never return to any part of the roof is not.
On Guarantees – Read Them Carefully
We are going to be direct about this: in most cases a honey bee removal guarantee is not worth purchasing. Here is why.
What Guarantees Actually Cover
A guarantee sounds reassuring. In practice, whenever we have seen the actual wording of guarantees offered in this industry, they are specific to the exact location of the original removal – not the whole property, not the whole roof, not the whole wall. Just the precise spot where the colony was.
Having removed the colony and filled or proofed that specific void, bees returning to exactly that spot is already the least likely scenario. The guarantee covers the outcome that was already most unlikely and specifically excludes the outcomes that are actually possible – bees entering an adjacent cavity, a different section of roof, a nearby gap.
What the guarantee typically covers: | What the guarantee typically excludes: |
Bees returning to the exact void that was removed and filled. | Bees entering any other part of the property. |
In practice: already the least likely outcome once the space is filled. | Access costs if they do return. |
Any survey required before the guarantee is honoured. |
Access Costs:
Read the access cost clause in particular. Most guarantees cover the labour of the bee removal if bees return, but not the access – scaffolding, MEWP hire, working at height costs. These are often the most significant part of the job cost.
Does the guarantee cover the whole property, all the roof, all the wall, all chimneys?
Probably not. Whenever we have seen a copy of the guarantee being offered it is very specific to the location of the bee removal being carried out. They are only guaranteeing against the recolonisation of a very specific part of the building or roof, not the whole, because it’s impossible to guarantee the whole against reinfestation without carrying out a total rebuild.
Our Position on Guarantees
We are confident enough in our proofing work that we do not feel a guarantee is necessary. If the entry point has been correctly identified and properly dealt with, the work should hold without a guarantee attached.
If you have been offered a guarantee by another contractor and want us to match it – we will, for the same fee, on the same terms. We include that offer knowing that a properly executed proofing job is unlikely to need calling on.
One more thing worth noting:
We have seen guarantees offered for the removal of the bees – not for proofing, but for the removal itself. The guarantee that the bees will be removed is, frankly, what you are paying the invoice for. That should not need a separate guarantee.
Proofing After Swarm Eviction
A common misconception is that acting quickly on a newly arrived swarm removes the proofing requirement. It does not. A honey bee colony begins marking its new home almost immediately – queen pheromones are present from day one, wax production starts within days, and propolis is applied to the entry point very early on. The scent beacon will be there regardless of how quickly the colony is removed. The entry point always needs addressing properly.
What early action does change is the removal itself – less comb to extract, less honey, less detritus, less secondary pest attraction, and a smaller reinstatement job. The cavity is easier to work in and quicker to make good. That is a meaningful cost and complexity difference. But do not underestimate the proofing requirement on the assumption that a recent arrival leaves nothing behind. It always does.
Related:
See our Urgent Swarm Eviction page for the full early intervention argument – acting quickly means a simpler removal and less reinstatement work, even though the proofing requirement is the same.
FAQs
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Honey Bees in Chimney
We attend more chimney honey bee removals than we do of any other type of honey bee removal or cutout. We don’t need to dismantle the chimney, we rarely remove more than 4 individual bricks. When honey bees occupy a chimney space it is usually one of three scenarios or a combination of them.
Honey Bees in Roof
Generally speaking honey bees don’t colonise large roof spaces, when they are flying in beneath tiles they more often than not are colonising a cavity wall or an old dismantled chimney stack that is hidden beneath the tiles. But they love dormer windows and flat roofs
Honey Bees in Wall
We remove bees from walls and we can do it without taking them down or knocking huge holes into them. We remove the bees the wax & the honey. Rarely do we need to remove more than 8 bricks, which we remove whole so they go back as they were.
For further information on bee removal and relocation please use the contact form in the side bar or message button below, or CALL 01297 441272 to speak to someone local who knows all about it.
If you are looking for information on removing bees from a chimney check out our article ‘Honey bees in chimney‘, or if you repeatedly have bee swarms take up home in your chimney you may want to look at our page ‘Why honey bees like chimneys‘ & ‘Everything you need to consider when removing bees in a chimney‘ which is a fairly extensive overview.
For information on bee removal and relocation from roofs you may want to look at our page ‘Honey bees in roof‘, or if you have honey bees in a wall our page ‘Honey bees in wall‘ maybe of use.
For examples on removals of honey bees from these and other more unusual places check thru The Hive Blog and investigate our Tag cloud too.
Don’t forget a general overview on honey bee removals which can be found at ‘Live honey bee removal’.
