Bee Removal - A New Experience
On June 10, I had the privilege to join Philip (Master Extractor) and Nick Rowan to
remove a colony of honey bees from the floor joists of a church building. This was my second removal activity, but the first was a false alarm (wish I would have realized that before crawling through the owner’s attic). That being said, I learned a lot from each experience.
This time we encountered an active colony nestled in a church outbuilding. Philip shared his knowledge and experience with removing siding and determining the extend of the hive. After cutting the siding to expose the joist we had our first view of the colony’s handy work. With his trusty bee vac and his two able bodied assistants, Philip proceeded to extract the bees and cut out the lobes of comb, honey and brood, eleven in total, from the 1’x2‘ joist opening. All toll, we collected about 8-10 pounds of bees, five frames of brood and one and one half buckets of honey and comb.
Having the opportunity to participate in this experience and learn from a veteran beekeeper like Philip is just another example of the great resources we have in the HCBA. If you haven't done it, you should try it!
