The bees were under a shed that was falling apart. We couldn’t get to them for about two weeks, by the time we did the owner had taken down the shed and all that was left was the floor. He asked us to take up the floor and the framing underneath. We did and found the small hive. We weren’t sure how big it was to start out because the FLIR showed hot spots under the whole floor.

Normally we get a call from Board of Water Supply about bees on a hydrant. This time we got calls from the neighborhood, must have been 5 for these girls. I’m glad we took a 5 frame nuc, not one of our smaller ones. I scooped them into the nuc and most of them got into the box.

When I got to this swarm I was suprised it was so big. As I got closer I say a rather large praying mantis creeping up on the bees. I guess he thought he could get an easy lunch. I shook them into the box and relocated the mantis.

It was getting dark and a bit late when the woman called. I had to hurry, so I didnt take a picture till I had shaken them into the box. After they got in the box I got a perfect picture of the girls fanning. They stick their rears in the air and flap their wings. While they are doing that they spread a smell that tells everyone that they are here now. Whis is exactly what we are looking for.

The property manager called and said that he had bees in an outside cabinet, he was sure they had only been there a day or two. We got there and opened the door and saw a good bit of comb. They had been there for at least a week, maybe two. We got the comb out and the bees and turned the cabinet on its side so the bees wouldn’t get back in.

The guy called about 5pm and said that he had bees in his tree. I knew they were there for the night because of the time. I got there, sprayed them with water so they wouldn’t fly and shook them into the nuc. I took the water back to the truck and put it away, I was ready to wait for a bit for them to get into the box. By the time I was done, so were they. They were ready to get out of the open and everyone went into the nuc very fast.

The guy called and said he had bees in his recycle bin. When we got there the bees were flying all over the front of the house and around the bin. They were very angry and confused. He told me that they had been there about 1 week, but there was no comb, so that meant they had only been there a day or two. Then he told me that he moved them out to the curb last night and the truck came and emptied the bin this morning. We thought we were going to get stung the bees were so angry. I scooped them into the box and put it back in the spot were the bin was originally. We will have to go back tonight to get them after they calm down.

Bees find interesting places to build. Usually they find the highest spot, most times this is near the ceiling. This time they found the space under the window. Scott had to lay down the whole time to get the bees out. They filled the entire space between the studs. The home owner said he thought the hive would be about the size of a golf ball, that was until he saw how large this was.

I always find it interesting what people will do before they call a professional. There were bees in this couch. They had moved it to a parking lot area. When I walked up I saw a bunch of ash and a burned spot in the asphalt. I asked the guy about it, he said they had tried to smoke them out. Of course that didn’t work.

Peter is 6’5″ and is new to beekeeping. This cabinet is about 6-7 feet up. I was getting ready to move the little cabinet under it and put up the ladder. Peter said he could reach it. Just reached up and started scraping the comb and bees out. His friend Kevin was video taping the whole thing. Kevin didn’t have a bee suit so he made one out of a cap, some netting and his hunting clothing.