Bees in Buildings

If you have bees in your roof and look similar to this with a white end to their abdomen:

they are most likely to be the Tree Bumblebee [Bombus hypnorum].

So before you call a beekeeper read this PDF document on their life cycle.
Bombus hypnorum

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If you have bees in your building and you are convinced they are honey bees, here are some beekeepers who may be prepared to remove bees from your property depending on the difficulty. They are:

TN15 0ES 07970 484232 Sarah Rapley
TN15 0SB 07740 640686 Andrew McFadyen

Westerham 07879 234253 Tracy Johnson
DA3 8NZ 01732 703746 Roy Taylor

TN4 8DU 01892 529518 Vic Webb

Also have a look through these pdf documents showing honeybee removal from buildings in pictures and you will understand what is involved. These are some extractions our branch has been involved with since 2016.

Bee Extraction from a Farmhouse – Horam Sussex – Sept 2024

Colony Behind Hung Tiles Horam

Bee Extraction from Bethany School Swimming Pool Pump House

Click to open: Bethany School Bee Extraction Aug’23

May 2022 Removal of a small Colony of Bees in an Oast House in Leigh.

Click to open: Bee Colony Extraction Leigh

Click here for more pictures

Bee Extraction from Bethany School Swimming Pool Pump House

Click to open: Bethany School Bee Extraction Aug’23

May 2022 Removal of a small Colony of Bees in an Oast House in Leigh.

Click to open: Bee Colony Extraction Leigh

August 2023 Removal of Bees from School Swimming Pool Pump House

June 2021 Removal of a Colony of Bees from an Oast House in Pembury, T. Wells.

After extracting most of the colony, the Bee-vac removes the remaining bees & possibly the queen?

Click to see more detail of this Pembury Oast Colony Extraction in pictures.

April 2021 Removal of 2 Colonies of Bees from an old Headmasters House in Chelsfield, Near Orpington.

Click to View Details of Chelsfield House Bee Extraction in pictures.

November 2020 Use of a Bee-Vac to remove bees from under a Farmhouse Tiling Wall Nr. Tunbridge Wells.

Click to View details of Bee Extraction from under Farmhouse Tile Hanging in pictures.

October 2020 Use of a Bee-Vac to remove bees from a lather & plaster wall of a Farningham House.

Click to view Bee Removal from Farningham House

August 2020: Use of a Bee-Vac to remove bees from Penshurst Bay Window Roof.

Click to view Penshurst Bay Window Extraction in pictures

July 2020: Use of a Bee-Vac to remove bees from Tunbridge Wells Porch.

Click to view Colony Extraction from a Porch Ceiling in T.Wells details in pictures.

May 2020: Extraction using of a Bee-Vac [Adapted Poly Nuc.] to remove bees from a Crowborough Bay Window:

Click to view Bay Window Honeybees Extraction 2020 details in pictures.

August 2019: Use of a Bee-Vac to remove bees from Shingle Wall, Ightham.

Click to view Bee Colony Recovered Behind a Shingle Wall, Ightham in pictures.

April 2016: Colony Extraction from Warren Farm Bay Window.

Warren Farm Honeycomb exposed before removal.

Click to view Warren Farm Colony above Bay Window details in pictures.

2016: St Mary’s Church, Hadlow, Colony Extraction 30 ft up this listed Tower.

Extracting final honeycomb deep within the church tower!

Click to view St Marys Church Hadlow + Bees under floor extraction in pictures.

March 2016: Sevenoaks Chimney Colony Extraction.

Reaching deep into the chimney to reach the last bit of honeycomb.

Click on: Quarry Cottages Chimney Bee Removal for details in pictures.

Peter Hutton, our President, wrote this article on dealing with bees in chimneys.

Click to open: Bees in Chimneys

September - December

September
Time to feed the colony for the winter, replacing the honey taken. Feed continuously with standard strength sugar syrup (1 kg added to one pint of water). The colony will need at least 15kg of syrup (more for the bigger hives) to take it through the cold months ahead.
Feeding needs to be completed before the end of the month to give the colony time to drive off the excess water.
Remove varroa gel or strips when treatment is completed.
Fit a mouse guard to the hive entrance.

October, November, December
At the beginning of October heft the hives to check that they are all heavy. They need to feel as though they are nailed down, if not, continue feeding.
With all the required food now in the brood chamber, all should be well for winter.
Strap or weigh down the roof against winter wind.
If you have solid floors, make sure the hive slopes gently forwards so that rain will not run into the entrance. If you have open mesh floors it is better to have the hive completely level to keep comb construction vertical in the frames.
If green woodpeckers are in your area, protect the hives by putting wire netting or shiny black plastic round all four sides.
Monitor the now small entrance regularly for the build up of dead bees. Bees are dying all the time and just a few can block the entrance leaving the others unable to get out for water or cleansing flights.
Keep regular checks for woodpecker damage or rain getting in?
Be aware that sheep, badgers, deer or other animals could knock the hive over rubbing against to satisfy an itch. Use secure stock fencing if this is a risk.
Feeding should not be required yet, but keep an emergency block of fondant available just in case. Most of the colonies that die out do so because of starvation.