Bee Trap-out for Bees in Trees
What is a Bee Tree Trap-out?
A trap-out is the procedure we use to remove honey bees from a cavity that we cannot access by opening the cavity and vacuuming out the bees. This process is particularly advantageous when dealing with a tree in which the bees have made their home.
How Does a Bee Tree Trap-out work?
Find the entrance to the hive
First, we locate the opening the bees are using as the entrance to their hive. We secure a cone, which we construct of wire mesh, over the entrance hole
The cone
The cone acts as a one-way exit for the bees, as they can leave the hive through
the small opening created by the cone, but cannot find their way back in.
We set up a decoy hive
We then set up a decoy hive, near the old entrance. As the foraging bees come back to the hive in the evening, they cannot find their way in, and so enter the decoy hive instead. As more and more bees exit the old hive, and enter the new one, they begin to operate with the new decoy hive as their home base.
We seal up the cavity
After the bees have relocated to the decoy beehive, we take down the cone and seal up the hole against recolonizing by other honeybees.
We relocate the bees
We then move the decoy beehive to our farm, where we establish it as a colony in our apiary.
How long does it take?
Generally, this process of the bees relocating from their original home to our decoy beehive takes from four to six weeks.
Oakley Bee Removal Project gets attention
Before:
How do you remove 30,000 bees from a tree?
After:
Trapper moving 30,000 bees from Southeast Austin oak tree
Contact Us
Randy Oakley
Live Bee Removal Specialist
For fastest response:
512-981-9216
Buy Apiary Equipment Oakley Family Apiaries
Relocation – Good Solution
- Bees saved
- Honey and wax combs removed
- Structure sealedd
- No re-infestation
- More bees to pollinate
Extermination – Bad Solution
- Beneficial bees killed
- Leftovers draw insects and mold
- Honey seeps into house
- Old nest attracts new bees
- Insecticide contaminates
- Other beehives harmed
- Fewer bees to pollinate flowers
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