Bee Jobs in Sonoma County  Return to: Bee Page/ Home Page /Bee Yard Diagnosis

Make sure that your ventilation screens are SMALLER than 1/4" and all gaps are plugged, otherwise, the ladies will move in:

This is the most common bee removal site.

(Novato, 4/30/06)

 

 

 

 They pick the funniest places to move in- like this storage compartment on a trailer:

(Oakmont, 5/16/06)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They love old barns (Sebastopol, 5/18/06)

This sunny barn wall has been attracting swarms for years.  It was filled with old comb.  The biggest problem with keeping them there is the amount of debris that accumulates on the bottom that attracts other pests (i.e. mice, rats, ants) and makes the wood rot.

 

  

Home sweet home (in this photo we are waiting for all the bees to move in so that we can take them all home in their new box at sunset)
A tree hive removal consists of placing a one-way cone over the bee entrance and placing an enticing box on the outside.  The queen and her nurses and all the unhatched brood will be left inside the tree, but all the forager bees can be extracted and added to another hive.  We really don't like doing this as it means killing off a lot of bees, but in some cases, if coexistence is not possible, it is the only way.  Here are some recent locations  where we had to resort to this method:

(Santa Rosa, 7/06) 

 

Another Difficult location: Stucco

(Healdsburg, 8/06)

 

 

The Best Solution for a Hive in a Tree:

This was a hive living in a tree in Sebastopol.  When the tree split, exposing the hive, the owner called us to find a solution to save the bees.  After a consultation, he made a beautiful box to protect the bees from rain, weather and predators and Joey helped him mount it on the tree. 

This is a simple, elegant, solution that will protect the bees from further damage.

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