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Chimney Trap Out
A trap out is sometimes the best way to remove bees from a wall, roof or chimney. A cone made from wire mesh is placed over the bee's entrance.
One method which we have found successful is the cone extraction method. The bees' entrance is blocked and a cone, made from metal screen, is placed over the entrance. This allows the bees to exit, but not return. A hive containing a small colony is placed nearby.
During the day the bees fly out through the cone and go about their normal business. When they try to return, they are not able to negotiate the cone, and so collect outside. When the sun sets and the temperature drops, they go into the hive box.
Usually some of the bees in the box act as guard bees to keep out interlopers. It seems that because the resident colony is quite small, and the entering bees have pollen and nectar, they are allowed in without fighting.
Over the course of a few weeks almost all the bees inside the structure are transferred to the hive box. A few, including the queen, are left behind. These eventually die out.
This method is particularly successful if the colony has been in its new location for only a short time since they will not have had time to build come in which the queen can lay eggs.
Once it's clear that no more bees are going to come out, the screen cone is removed and the bees from the hive box are allowed to go inside. Any honey which remains inside is robbed out and moved into the hive box.
The most difficult part of this method is stopping the bees from finding an alternative entrance back into their hive. If the colony has taken up residence in a wall with many cracks, it is extremely difficult to exclude the bees.
For more about a trap out get The Bee buzz.
