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Been there a little longer than anticipated….

One of the first questions I ask of a homeowner with bees is:  “How long have they been there?”.   Many times, the answer will be “I’m really not sure – maybe from last year or early this spring”.  And occasionally I’ll hear “They just moved in this week – come get them NOW!  It’s an emergency!!”

This particular case – was that the homeowner admitted that they had only recently (in the last week) *noticed* the bees – and they really didn’t know how long they had been there.   A person performing a removal would MUCH rather hear this honesty – then the insistence that bees have been in there for only a day or so – only to open it up and find 10-20 full combs that are brown to black – indicating that the comb had been there for a matter of years.

These bees were fairly high in the air.  2nd floor soffit.  (click pics for larger versions)

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Once the soffit was carefully opened – it was evident that the bees had been there a *bit* longer than a week or so.  The texture and color of the comb indicates that they had probably been there since last fall.

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In all – there were 13 combs removed.

The brood and honeycomb were tall – Appx 20″ tall at the back (as they followed the steep roof line).

Dscn3562_smAfter the removal was complete, the void space was filled with fiberglass insulation, their entry hole was filled and repaired, and the soffit was put back in place.

All in a good day’s work!

 

 

 

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