Sunday, February 10, 2008

Africanized Bee Removal Behind Siding

The bees were entering the wall where siding had separated at the corner of the building. The studs where rotted so the nails were no longer holding the siding closed. In the first pictures you can see the bees going about their business, not being defensive.





Once we began prying the paneling open, thousands of angry bees came to the attack. I used a reciprocating saw on the paneling and the bees went crazy, stinging the saw and through the cuffs of my gloves.













On the attack.

Here is my son A.J. bowing under the onslaught. He took multiple stings and went on the counter attack, using the bee vacuum to tame the swarm. Notice the duct tape around the wrists to keep stings from going through the tough canvas gauntlets of the gloves. We both put on double bee suits but some bees were stinging right through two bee suits and our shirts and trousers. Ouch! A.J. said he couldn't get his breath so we left the scene to get some Benydril, now available in melt-in-your-mouth strips. After two strips and a few minutes rest, he was back at the bees. Once we got all the comb into a tub the bees settled down. We coated the inside of the wall with our proprietary repellent and closed up the wall. When we were done there were only a few bees buzzing around our truck. All the Africanized bees had been captured.

This location had had bees some time past.
Note the old comb we found in the lower section of wall. Had this comb been removed the current infestation could have been avoided. Spraying poison on bees and then leaving the comb in the wall invites more problems. People should call a bee removal specialist to deal with bees!

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Removing bees from a lanai wall




A quarter inch hole around a wire going through the wall gave the bees an entrance to this lanai wall.

The home owner had used two cans of spray, but, the bees were not impressed.







After one panel of the wall was removed part of the nest was exposed.



When the rest of the panels of siding were removed the full size of the nest can be seen. The bees were very gentle and after the bees and comb were removed the siding was replaced and the hole by the wire was caulked closed.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Africanized Bee Removal Soffit Feb 2008


This is a home with a rotting plywood soffit. The bees were entering the opening and had built a large nest in the covered space. The owner said the bees were gentle and never bothered anyone. As soon as we opened the plywood the bees showed us their Africanized attitude. They came at us with a vengence and started chasing the home owner and his son who were standing about fifty feet away. My son A.J. is shown removing the comb. These bees were relocated to a safe beeyard and the queen was replaced with a gentle European queen from a queen breeder.
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