Honey bees in my roof

jibbyboo

I have an issue. I have honey bees in my roof.

The bees have been in residence since I purchased the property in 2013. We don't have a loft, and the entrance to the hive is located directly above a car port. I have had no less than 5 beekeepers visit my property to investigate a humane removal, however each has come to the conclusion that it would be a dangerous and thankless job to remove them, as the likelihood of the bees surviving such a removal would be extremely low. The council also told me not to remove them, as they shouldn't be a bother.

One of the walls has cracked near their entrance, and I can only imagine it'll get worse.

Roofers won't go near due to the bees, beekeepers won't attempt any sort of removal without contractors on site.

This year the bees seem to be particularly active and are frequently coming into our home, and both my partner and I have been stung within the past fortnight.

Much to my dismay, it appears that we now have to consider destroying the colony.

One of the beekeepers I have been in touch with is a doctor of entomology, and has consulted peers who are in agreeance that our only course of action is as stated above.

However, the pest controllers that came out are talking about charging hundreds if not thousands to do this work due to the size and equipment required to reach the nest due to its awkward position. Even if they do destroy them, they couldn't remove the comb etc so we're likely to have swarms of bees on the property regularly.

Home insurance won't cover me because the Halifax policy we have doesn't cover pests, but I also can't get other insurance because it's pre-existing.

Does anyone have any advice? At an absolute loss, distraught about the killing the bees, and potentially about to require a roof replacement/ need to sell the house

Also, I am pretty certain that the previous owners knew about the bees and I asked them about any infestations which they denied. Would there be any sort of recourse I could take if I were to find out if this were true (asking neighbours etc)?

Thanks for your help.

Norman_Castle

I suspect you've tried here http://www.bbka.org.uk/

jibbyboo

I did Norman, it was my first port of call.

Biggles

Block their entrance, either during the day so that many of them are outside and may survive, or during the winter, when they may well die (of cold or starvation) anyway?

bsod

photo?

http://www.1env.co.uk/dustick-kit-accessories.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbzfmbwuD8I

21 foot reach, if the car port is still in the way, remove a roof panel

brightontraveller

Get a bee keeper not hobbyist
Often local authorities and many of the associations only give you the numbers of the local bee keeping clubs whilst some of these have very good knowledgeable members majority are hobbyist many clueless wanna bee keepers ? Swarms with queens have value but to a doctor of entomology value of swarm and queens not an issue unfortunately those hobbyist wouldn’t bother collecting them if there anywhere at all that requires effort or true knowledge Try different authorites as they may well have different bee keeping clubs, bee keepers on there books ? In some parts of the country there are real problems with people stealing hives etc so getting someone to remove them wouldn’t be a problem just require more effort

coffeehound

There are supposedly ultrasonic repellers that work on insects; would those would be enough to persuade the colony to up sticks?

jibbyboo

Hi all,

Thanks for chipping in.

At this stage, I don't think that there's a possibility of a humane removal unless I rip off the roof- which may need to happen to extract comb etc.

Brigtontraveller, yes, I agree there may have been one or two who were hobbyists, however I know that some certainly were serious beekeepers including the entomologist.

I suppose what I'm wondering, is does anyone know of grants/ charities/ insurances, that may be able to assist with acting?

cyclonebri1

Given that you now feel the need to destroy rather than accommodate, here's what I did under similar circumstances, but be very aware of the fire hazard.

I simply set up a gas bottle and burner that covered the entrance, all the residents were crisped on attempting re-entry. No more issues.

tiger_eyes

Biggles wrote: »

Block their entrance, either during the day so that many of them are outside and may survive, or during the winter, when they may well die (of cold or starvation) anyway?

I was told this usually leads to insects finding (or making) unexpected exit routes from the nest - like into your bedroom...

Mojisola

tiger_eyes wrote: »

I was told this usually leads to insects finding (or making) unexpected exit routes from the nest - like into your bedroom...

This happened to a friend of mine - the house was filled with bees for days. Don't do it!