Post by Mitra on Oct 3, 2007 9:36:02 GMT -5
This is a sad report. After weeks of trying UNSUCCESSFULLY to get help with my big bee hive in the chimney, it's over. They had to be exterminated and we lost all those bees and all that honey. There was approximately 100 lbs of honey from a hive that was about 6ft long in my woodstove flue.
After following several leads and suggestions from here, I found a local beekeeper who came over and checked out the situation. As he's also part of the construction industry, the height of the roof and chimney did not bother him. He said he'd be back the next day to set up a hive on the side of the chimney to lure them. He thought the whole process could take a couple of weeks. He and many other bee people repeatedly pointed out to me that this was by far the worst time of year for this exercise. The bees were hunkering down for winter and it was going to be extremely difficult to get them to swarm or leave. But he seemed willing to try and said that even if he was unable to save the queen, at least he could harvest the comb and honey for all his other bees. That was the last we saw or heard from him! Two weeks went by and I continued to call and leave him messages, each sounding more desperate than the last. It started to get really cold (mid-30s at night), and we needed our woodstove.
I called the chimney guy who was ready to do whatever needed to be done. He too had hoped the bees could be saved and that his job was only going to be cleaning the wax and remaining honey from the walls of the chimney. His role was to be much greater.
I purchased a poison that came out as a foam. I had told him he needed to show up early in the morning or late late afternoon/evening to reduce his chances of getting stung. Due to his own scheduling issues, he could only show up at 4:00 p.m.. That day it was an 80 degree day. At 4:00 p.m. they were HIGHLY active. Without any protective gear, other than his hooded sweatshirt and gloves, he climbed up to the roof (did I mention he's 70?) and slowly approached the chimney. He slowly and deliberately raised his arm over the top of the chimney and held it there for a couple of minutes without moving. Then he all of a sudden started spraying and filled the top of the chimney with this spray foam (almost like whipped cream). Hundreds of bees started pouring out. He quickly came down the ladder. Bees were dropping like rain and doing a death dance wherever they fell. Me and my girls cried. I felt so sick.
He came back at 7:00 a.m. the next morning and there was no activity what so ever. He'd purchased a machete for the sole purpose of cutting out the comb but as he soon found out, the machete was only half as long as he needed it to be. He cut as much as he could and threw it over the edge of the roof. Big chunks of comb full of honey and my job was to get it into buckets before my chickens started eating it. Then he stuck a hoe with a six foot handle down the chimney to pull up more of the chunks. We filled three 5 gallon buckets with comb/honey. Then the gruesome task of cleaning out the chimney outfall. He used a coal shovel and filled another three 5-gallon buckets with thousands of dead bees. I was just sick!!! He spent another two hours cleaning and scrubbing the flue walls.
A week after this bee holocaust, it was apparent that there were still at least a couple hundred survivors and amazingly they were trying to set the hive back up with the comb and honey that hadn't been cleaned off the roof. For three days we ran the woodstove with smokey fires to discourage them from setting back up. On the third day, they swarmed. There were hundreds of bees flying around the chimney and around the house. It was treacherous trying to get in and out of the house because there were so many of them. The next day it was quiet. They were all gone. I know I've sent the remaining bees to their deaths as it's too late to set up a hive and they don't have any honey to winter them over.
This has been a horrible experience but as always I'm so thankful for all the advice and encouragement I received here. If only there could have been a different outcome
.
After following several leads and suggestions from here, I found a local beekeeper who came over and checked out the situation. As he's also part of the construction industry, the height of the roof and chimney did not bother him. He said he'd be back the next day to set up a hive on the side of the chimney to lure them. He thought the whole process could take a couple of weeks. He and many other bee people repeatedly pointed out to me that this was by far the worst time of year for this exercise. The bees were hunkering down for winter and it was going to be extremely difficult to get them to swarm or leave. But he seemed willing to try and said that even if he was unable to save the queen, at least he could harvest the comb and honey for all his other bees. That was the last we saw or heard from him! Two weeks went by and I continued to call and leave him messages, each sounding more desperate than the last. It started to get really cold (mid-30s at night), and we needed our woodstove.
I called the chimney guy who was ready to do whatever needed to be done. He too had hoped the bees could be saved and that his job was only going to be cleaning the wax and remaining honey from the walls of the chimney. His role was to be much greater.
I purchased a poison that came out as a foam. I had told him he needed to show up early in the morning or late late afternoon/evening to reduce his chances of getting stung. Due to his own scheduling issues, he could only show up at 4:00 p.m.. That day it was an 80 degree day. At 4:00 p.m. they were HIGHLY active. Without any protective gear, other than his hooded sweatshirt and gloves, he climbed up to the roof (did I mention he's 70?) and slowly approached the chimney. He slowly and deliberately raised his arm over the top of the chimney and held it there for a couple of minutes without moving. Then he all of a sudden started spraying and filled the top of the chimney with this spray foam (almost like whipped cream). Hundreds of bees started pouring out. He quickly came down the ladder. Bees were dropping like rain and doing a death dance wherever they fell. Me and my girls cried. I felt so sick.
He came back at 7:00 a.m. the next morning and there was no activity what so ever. He'd purchased a machete for the sole purpose of cutting out the comb but as he soon found out, the machete was only half as long as he needed it to be. He cut as much as he could and threw it over the edge of the roof. Big chunks of comb full of honey and my job was to get it into buckets before my chickens started eating it. Then he stuck a hoe with a six foot handle down the chimney to pull up more of the chunks. We filled three 5 gallon buckets with comb/honey. Then the gruesome task of cleaning out the chimney outfall. He used a coal shovel and filled another three 5-gallon buckets with thousands of dead bees. I was just sick!!! He spent another two hours cleaning and scrubbing the flue walls.
A week after this bee holocaust, it was apparent that there were still at least a couple hundred survivors and amazingly they were trying to set the hive back up with the comb and honey that hadn't been cleaned off the roof. For three days we ran the woodstove with smokey fires to discourage them from setting back up. On the third day, they swarmed. There were hundreds of bees flying around the chimney and around the house. It was treacherous trying to get in and out of the house because there were so many of them. The next day it was quiet. They were all gone. I know I've sent the remaining bees to their deaths as it's too late to set up a hive and they don't have any honey to winter them over.
This has been a horrible experience but as always I'm so thankful for all the advice and encouragement I received here. If only there could have been a different outcome
.
but I glad you have your stove back. Is it possible to install a screen of some kind at the top to prevent it happening again? I have one for my masonry chimney, but I don't know if they make them for pipe chimneys.
.
