Anyone try and save wild honey bees on a roof?

This is a job we are working on and there is a large hive of wild honey bees in one of the walls. We are going to save them and hold up the job till we can get them out safely. You can thank them the next time you eat any fruit or vegetables.

https://picasaweb.google.com/crookston.john4/MetroMetalRoofingLakeside?authkey=Gv1sRgCKTX9JuSidak7QE#6047976913561620722

Those little rascals won! We finally gave up and finished the soffit without getting them out. We tried for three weeks, but they kept finding different ways into the nest. I guess they have been there of over 20 years and who are we to tell them different?

We buy bee killer by the case. Nearly every roof will have some kind of wasp hive. As for honey bees, I know there is a shortage of bees, but I hate to say I doubt my roofers would make any distinction. probably aren't even aware of the plight of the honey bee. If we find any mammals living in the roof, we halt that area of the job and inform the customer to contact exterminator.

We never ran into the Honeybee population, however we did have bats by the score, wasps and yellow jackets I did have a attck on my residence back in the 80's where the bees covered on entire wall about 20 x 80 area, forunately my neighbor was a bee keeper and he and his son took care of the situation, but the bees returned almost every year to find thae Queen lol

Never had to evacuated a hive, but uncovered and abandoned YJ nest that must have been built upon for a couple of decades. At it's widest and shallowest part, near the front eave of the porch, the nest was almost 8' wide and 1' deep. It tapered in as the hive was built in the direction of the house. Where it met the house, it was 4' deep, and 2.5' wide. The entire cavity between ceiling and roof deck was filled. Someday, I just might get interested enough to figure out the volume of that entire nest structure. It was one of the coolest things I ever saw while roofing.

Wasps and hornets on the other hand are "nasty" My son said it is amazing how loud they are when you are right up to the nest and they are buzzing around the hood. A working hive is worth about $200-400, but that is nothing compared to what it is going to cost us to wait it out. On the other hand, most of the hives in Michigan died this past winter (70%) of them, so it is important that we do everything we can to support them. The main contractor is with us and so are the property owners. On top of that, the area where the bees are is at the top of the back side where it isn't really visible if we are not done, and they can use the building. It is win--win as far as I am concerned.

No, I didn't call anyone. The lady called me after the hive had been removed or exterminated or whatever they did with it. The only thing she told me was that it took 6 trips. All I did was repair the roof where they cut it to pieces to get the bees out. :dry:

Chuck Said: I did a repair on a roof after the hive had been removed. There was a chimney on a lower section running up the wall of the house to the upper section and on the right side of the chimney the original home builder had built a half cricket. They left an opening at the bottom however where the valley of the cricket met the bottom right corner of the chimney and thats where the bees entered. The client said it took the exterminatior 6 trips to finally get all the bees out. It stunk to high heavens. :huh:

You called an exterminator instead of a beekeeper? I like eating fruits and vegetables. Honey bees are a treasure, not a pest. :blink:

That is freakin sweet! It's a good thing you've got a friend in the business.

We uncovered/pissed off a couple hundred red wasps the other day. Yea, not nearly as much fun.

I did a repair on a roof after the hive had been removed. There was a chimney on a lower section running up the wall of the house to the upper section and on the right side of the chimney the original home builder had built a half cricket. They left an opening at the bottom however where the valley of the cricket met the bottom right corner of the chimney and that's where the bees entered. The client said it took the exterminatior 6 trips to finally get all the bees out. It stunk to high heavens. :huh:

Awesome. Cool! :)