Removing Bees from a Chimney

A few weeks ago - on a rare day the sun was shining - we removed a colony of bees from a chimney nearby to Bee HQ.    They’d been there since last year and had survived the winter without a beekeeper’s intervention.    Luckily the house owner is a bee lover and wanted to do everything possible to save them.

We loaned some bee suits to the roofers who were replacing the chimney, and they took it down to the bee level the day before.    They suffered only a few minor stings.  

The bees were using a small hole in the brick work as an entrance.   The colony had built long thin comb between the flashing and the cap .    Just as the first comb was removed my well-tuned queen bee spotting eye saw her on the next section in amongst the bees as she made a dash away from the light further into the darkness of the chimney.     I picked her off the comb and placed her in a ‘queen cage’.     It was extremely fortuitous as the bees will follow the queen’s pheromone and it makes removing the colony a whole lot easier.

All the comb was tied into empty frames using rubber bands.   This ensures that the colony retains its baby unborn bees and can grow into a larger colony more quickly.  

The bees could not have been more placid, especially as we were destroying their home.   In fact, the queen would be worthy of breeding from I was that impressed by their gentle nature.    

One thing of note was that the bees had no honey stores.   Indicative of the hardship the weather this year has caused the bees they were living day to day and a spell of rain could have caused them to starve.

The comb with the brood and the queen in her cage were placed in a box.    Some bees instantly began to lift their tails to spread the Nasonov pheromone which calls all other bees to the new home, but most of the bees were confused, despite the pheromones being fanned their way.     A well aimed bit of smoke moved them further to the box and they began walking over to the hive.   

Then it was time for a well earned lunch break to give them time to work out their bearings.    On returning from lunch they were all clustered together in the box and ready to go to a quarantine apiary for a few months.