Mildly Inclement Weather Honeybee Hive Removal

Side view of a house with brick and blue siding, featuring two windows and a metal ladder leaning against the wall, grassy yard in the foreground.

This job was the second removal we performed at this particular apartment complex. Both of which were in the floor of the upper bay windows. One on this end of the building and the other on the opposing end. This was a large colony that ended up filling a double deep hive worth of brood comb. After this removal, the maintenance crew for the complex went around sealing all of these bay windows to prevent further infestations. We knew we were going to get a little rain but we could not push this job so we came prepared. We set up a tarp to cover the work area and then proceeded like all other removals. My son was able to join me on this one as well so we got to hang out, get some work done, and enjoy that feeling of relief and satisfaction together that you get at the end of a wet workday.

A blue tarp is draped over a section of an outdoor wall of a house. The wall features both brick and blue wooden siding. The tarp is secured with ropes and anchored with concrete blocks. There is a grassy area around the house.

Attaching the tarp to the building to help shield us from the rain as we worked.

Construction site with a brick wall, blue tarp, ladder, and vacuum cleaner

I like to hang my bee vacuum in close proximity of the work to make operations easier.

Bee swarm in a wooden ceiling next to a brick wall.

You can see here that it was a strong healthy colony. It was twice the size of what is seen here.

Person in beekeeping suit removing a hive with a vacuum from a building's eave

Making progress in the vacuum portion of the job, removing bees and exposing comb.

Beehive inside a wall cavity with honeycomb and swarm of bees

Honeybees are amazing creatures!

Person in beekeeping suit holding a bee frame with honeycomb and bees.

My son getting ready to put this frame in the Hive Transport Unit.

Bee colony in a wall with honeycomb

Job nearly done with most all of the comb removed.

Wooden box interior with ants crawling on the surfaces.

Here is the void scraped out and ready to be reassembled.

Damaged building exterior with visible insulation under an awning.

Here the void is filled so there is no space for future hives to build.

Exterior view of a building with weathered brick and a small dirty window with chipped paint and a damaged corner, under a wooden overhang.

All of the wood work done and sealed.

Side of a brick house with a blue wooden panel and two windows on a cloudy day.

Back to better than we found it.

Person carrying a cinder block in a grassy field, wearing a hooded raincoat and jeans, with trees and a satellite dish in the background.

Here is JY smiling because it’s the last thing he has to put in the truck before we leave. That expression is the feeling of accomplishment and relief!