We pulled a good-sized colony from the walls of a home this weekend. Every single one of these is a learning experience.

According to the homeowner, bees have lived there for much of the last 30 years. Not the same colony, obviously and it’s not been continuous. They’re planning renovations to the house and they wanted the bees safely relocated so the contractor could do his thing safely.

We actually started the job two weeks ago. We arrived bright and early and pulled the old cedar siding down and located the entrance. Big problem: the bees were located behind the second floor rim-joist. Neither of us were comfortable with just blinding cutting in. We’re not big on risking demolishing our customer’s home. So we covered it up to do some research.

This Sunday we rolled in armed with the tools we needed and the knowledge that cutting the joist shouldn’t be a problem. Just to be safe, we pounded hardwood wedges in beneath the joist outside of the area were cutting to prevent it from possibly sagging. It wound up being no problem at all.

Things we learned:

• Cutting the rim joist, obviously.
• We really should take the bee vacuum with us even if we don’t plan to use it. It came in very handy.
• It’s time to find some better hose for the vac. The sump pump hose we have works well, but the ribbing on the inside makes a painful squealing whistle noise when the vacuum is running.
• We both seem to have really built up our immunity to bee venom. I got six stings and Greg got 5. None of mine swelled much more than a mosquito bite.

So, on with the show: removing a hive from a wall in 3:30. There were enough bees and brood to make two hives from this one.

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