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Poetic License – or Sacred Spirals – Soffit Removal

Bees moved into a home in Poetry, Texas at least three years ago.  The homeowner loves bees, and really does not have a problem with them being here – however when it was time to hire a contractor to do some routine maintenance and upgrades – the bees needed to go – so that progress could be made.

On initial evaluation, I used a thermal camera to determine as best as I could – the location of the bee colony.

According to the heat-signature, they ought to be in the lower soffit area.  The bright yellow/white in the photo is heat rising off of the cluster of bees, and radiating through the roof decking and shingles.

On the day scheduled for the removal, the soffit was opened, and the bees were exposed.

Of note in this picture below is a unique egg-laying pattern:  Also known as a “sacred spiral” – it appears that the queen started her initial egg-laying pattern in the center of the comb, and made a spiral outwards.  Then as the eggs hatched to larvae, were capped and developed to pupae, the cappings pronounce the spiral.

This hive was VERY highly populated.  A full 8 frames of eggs and brood were saved and transferred to standard frames for a commercial hive.  The bees were all collected (along with the queen) – and taken to the bee yard – and recombined with their comb/eggs/brood – where they are doing well.

Once the space was scraped of all the wax, the soffit void was filled with insulation, then the soffit and crown molding trim was put back into place, and the seams caulked.  (note:  The last piece of crown molding was left off for the contractor to match for other repairs on the property.)

 

 

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