Bees in cavity wall

[joe9052]

A question for you all.....
My friends house has a resident swarm using an air brick in a wall as their front door. They have been in residence for around a month now, nice and settled. They have been confined as honeybees...

I have no idea what space they actually have behind the air brick.

What suggestions do you have of removing them?
The owners are very keen not to kill them if at all possible.

There is currently good access to the airbrick as scaffolding has been placed up around the house for re pointing of the brick work.

Looking forward to reading your responses.

 

[pargyle]

well ... the first thing you need to know is where they have built their hive .. honey bees don't usually like to build in the small spaces provided by cavity walls so it's more than likely that they have found a much bigger space and are just gaining access to it via the airbrick. Is there a void under a floor or in a roof space that they can get to ?

Are you absolutely SURE that they are honey bees ?

It's not going to be an easy job to get them out alive without being able to get to the whole nest so your friend may be looking at some major building surgery to get to the colony in order to remove the combs and capture the queen and the workers. You will need a beekeeper prepared to collect them ... sadly, unless they are easily accessible it may well not be worthwhile but, if they are honey bees then your friend may not relish the prospect of a thriving colony of 40 or 50,000 bees next year if they survive the winter.

 

[oliver90owner]

As Pargyle. Likely under the floor, but could be in the cavity.

If under the floor - and you give no indication of the position of the air-brick - they may be relatively easy to remove. The combs would come away with the flooring, if lucky.

The access point of bees to the combs needs to be sealed or there is likely to be another resident colony another year.

Common ways to find the location of the nest is by listening (perhaps after a sharp tap on the suspected flooring) or searching for a warm spot.

There are loads of threads on the forum if you search fr 'cut outs' or simiar.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

A question for you all.....
My friends house has a resident swarm using an air brick in a wall as their front door. They have been in residence for around a month now, nice and settled. They have been confined as honeybees...

I have no idea what space they actually have behind the air brick.

What suggestions do you have of removing them?
The owners are very keen not to kill them if at all possible.

There is currently good access to the airbrick as scaffolding has been placed up around the house for re pointing of the brick work.

Looking forward to reading your responses.

Assuming the confirmation of being honeybees is not bulls**t.
Needing scaffolding access suggests a high level airbrick. Current building practice tends to have airbricks at just above damp course level with a wall sleeve straight through to the underfloor void. A higher air brick in an old house could lead anywhere but was typically through the wall to a hit and miss vent in a room or it could be an air admittance vent for a gas burning or oil burning appliance. You need to give us more information before you can get a proper answer.
The brickies doing the repointing may find the bricks around the vent are relatively loose and easy to remove (could need jackets and veils) to discover where the bees are.

 

[Barbarian]

If my friends had such a set up, I would first reassure them that the bees will not damage the fabric of the house. Left alone the bees are not likely to go out trying to sting people.

I think it is too late in the season to do a removal and save the bees. If your friends leave the colony alone it is possible that the colony will not survive the winter. That is the problem gone.

If the colony survives the winter, and your friends want the colony gone, then someone could do a "Trap Out". This is a technique used by US keeps. This would save the bees but could take a few weeks of regular visits and by the sound of your original post be a ladder job.

In my area I know of several colonies that have lived in building cavities for several years. These are no problem to the property owner. Swarms emerge and fly off the property to where, hopefully, a keep can collect them.

 

[BeeJayBee]

They might be able to work out where the colony is living by using either a stethoscope or a heat sensor (cheap gizmo from ebay). If using a stethoscope, a puff or two of smoke in through the air brick is likely to get a fairly noisy reception, so they'll be easier to hear.

If the colony survives the winter, and your friends want the colony gone, then someone could do a "Trap Out". This is a technique used by US keeps. This would save the bees ...

A trapout saves the flying bees by trapping them outside the nest - it stops them being able to return to their nest from a foraging trip. Those remaining inside, including the queen, will more than likely starve because their stores will not be topped up.

 

[joe9052]

some good comments there,thanks. Ill get back to you as to what happens..

 

[Fahey]

I did a successful trap-out (of a wall) recently. Check out the videos on utube as done in the US. You will need to make a mesh cone and hang a nuc box close to the existing entrance. You will need to seal any other exits/entrances with silicone as and when you observe the bees using them. You probably won't get the queen out but you will save most of the bees and those that don't come out will die inside. All the home owner will have to do is to cover the air brick with varroa mesh after you have finished. Good luck.

 

[abm]

i've used these before, for sealing out.... fantastic, easy to apply and looks neat (ideal for air bricks).

http://www.mousemesh.co.uk/

 

[joe9052]

So, am update as promised. I had a look today, and this is what I found.
They are honey bees. The 'air brick' is around 5m up. It is approx 8inch square and leads straight inside house. In bedroom it's covered with a bit of ply. Peering in though airbrick with torch reveals a small colony filling the 8x8x8inch space..
Owner happy to remove ply in bedroom to allow removal.
So my plan is to simply cut them out from inside bedroom, and place in nuc box.

Interestingly, same day they arrived, neighbours have two colonies in soffit at either end of their house. Those may prove a little more challenging..

I hope to take some photos, and will put them on here...

 

[pargyle]

So, am update as promised. I had a look today, and this is what I found.
They are honey bees. The 'air brick' is around 5m up. It is approx 8inch square and leads straight inside house. In bedroom it's covered with a bit of ply. Peering in though airbrick with torch reveals a small colony filling the 8x8x8inch space..
Owner happy to remove ply in bedroom to allow removal.
So my plan is to simply cut them out from inside bedroom, and place in nuc box.

I hope to take some photos, and will put them on here...

Well ... you got lucky in many respects .. should not be too difficult to cut them out from the inside but you will need some arrangement to get all the bees - if you could construct an 8" x 8" tube to connect the inside of the airbrick space to the entrance of your collection box then, as long as you get the queen into your collection box, and then connect it up to the airbrick with the tube and leave it in place until night falls you have every chance of collecting all the bees in the colony. The last thing you want to do is leave any stragglers behind that could make a nuisance of themselves.

Unusual for honey bees to choose a space as small as this one clearly is ... possibly a caste originally ?