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Author Topic: Non honey bee removal  (Read 7632 times)

Offline David McLeod

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Re: Non honey bee removal
« Reply #20 on: November 11, 2010, 07:50:06 pm »
Here's a tip that I learned from one of the best I ever worked with. Yellowjackets, though this could apply to honeybees as well, in a wall that was brick on one side and lath and plaster on the other. When I saw it I just knew it was sawzall work and could just envision the radial cracks and destruction of the horsehair plaster. This little lady I was with, who like I said was the best I ever worked with, whipped out a hole saw and made the nicest round hole through the plaster without the first crack. As long as you don't run into expanded metal lath your good to go with hole saw.
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Offline rdy-b

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Re: Non honey bee removal
« Reply #21 on: November 11, 2010, 08:01:08 pm »
  yes masonry always presents a problem-- the worst is the fireplace chimney-when the colony is in the void between the flue liner and the brick-drilling of tactical holes is a life saver-RDY-B

Offline David McLeod

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Re: Non honey bee removal
« Reply #22 on: November 11, 2010, 08:24:53 pm »
Fireplace work is always a mess when it comes to honeybees. I can deal with almost anything else without a mess (squirrels, raccoons and bats come out to be caught or excluded and don't leave enough of a mess behind to worry about) honeybees though are a PITA in masonry of any sort. Ever see them in hollow cinder block?  I'm not a brick mason and since masonry is almost always a support structure ) I don't open it up for any reason. Trap out and rob out is about the only course of action for me or it gets reffered to a PCO and the homeowner takes the chance on honey flow.
I did one that was semi exposed in the top of an antebellum chimney (no flue liner). It was just below the top opening and reachable the issue was that anything knocked loose was free falling to the firebox below. I lined the lower fireboxes with plastic and commenced work but try as I may I still made a mess of things and honey flowed for three days. The sweep that came in after me to clean up what I couldn't didn't appreciate it one bit. LOL
Another antebellum I did (1856 and the oldest brick home in that part of west Alabama) was one of the easiest I have ever done. The chimney had been capped off some time back with a piece of plywood with a metal cap (something like a telescopic cover). All comb was freehanging and attached to the plywood only. A simple lift and flip of the cap and I was home free. I wish they were all that simple.
Georgia Wildlife Services,Inc
Georgia's Full Service Wildlife Solution
Atlanta (678) 572-8269 Macon (478) 227-4497
www.atlantawildliferemoval.net
georgiawildlifeservices@gmail.com

Offline L Daxon

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Re: Non honey bee removal
« Reply #23 on: November 17, 2010, 12:12:34 pm »
Are yellow jackets and wasps like honey bees in that once they have built a nest in a certain spot, they will nest there again because of scent left behind? i.e. if I knock a nest down, should I be concerned that they will nest in that same spot again?
linda d

bigbearomaha

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Re: Non honey bee removal
« Reply #24 on: November 17, 2010, 04:47:12 pm »
I've had several calls on eastern YJ's that nest in above ground structures.

They will find voids in walls, by windows, under eaves, in gutters, behind siding just above the foundation, lots of similar places that honey bees would find themselves.

ornery critters

Offline David McLeod

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Re: Non honey bee removal
« Reply #25 on: November 17, 2010, 07:13:03 pm »
Are yellow jackets and wasps like honey bees in that once they have built a nest in a certain spot, they will nest there again because of scent left behind? i.e. if I knock a nest down, should I be concerned that they will nest in that same spot again?

No. I've knocked down probably a hundred or so bald faced hornets nest and dug up or out probably the same on yellow jackets and maybe half that many european hornets and have never observed a nest in the same spot twice. If left untreated; ie, the reproductives and foundresses are allowed to live and overwinter, there will often be nests near the area of the original nest. Just a location thing not a return to the natal nest.
Now here's one I see quite often with red or mahogany wasps. Specific structures may be plagued with annual recurring issues in the spring. Invariably these are structures that allow the foundress access to the soffits and attic where they overwinter. When the first warm days of spring arrive they will emerge enmasse and look for all the world like a swarm on the loose all around the roofline of the struture. Left untreated these structures will often have an increased number of nests around it as could nearby structures.
The protocol for treating these structures are either a general fogging of the attic , if good penetration of the soffits can be assured, or a crack and crevice treatment with a good insecticidal dust of the soffit/roofline either from the interior or exterior or better yet crack and crevice followed by fogging. Be sure that the dust is a residual like Delta so that next years that try to enter get a taste. This can even be followed with an exclusion as well being sure to seal all of these gaps that are allowing entry.
I no longer offer this type of service as I have chosen not to be a PCO in addition to my wildlife work.
I can still do the hornets and yellow jackets though as a shop vac does wonders without the need for chemicals.
BTW, ask me about carpenter bees :) 
Georgia Wildlife Services,Inc
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www.atlantawildliferemoval.net
georgiawildlifeservices@gmail.com

Offline David McLeod

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Re: Non honey bee removal
« Reply #26 on: November 17, 2010, 07:18:34 pm »
Oh, here's another one that I have seen return to the same area. Cicada Killer wasps and digger bees/wasps. This is not a case of returning to the original nest either but because of soil type being suitable it will be attractive year after year. This is much the same as mason bees returning to a stack of straws when available.
BTW, none of these are dangerous in anyway but they can freak out the general public especially the inch and a half long cicada killers.
Georgia Wildlife Services,Inc
Georgia's Full Service Wildlife Solution
Atlanta (678) 572-8269 Macon (478) 227-4497
www.atlantawildliferemoval.net
georgiawildlifeservices@gmail.com

Offline Acebird

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Re: Non honey bee removal
« Reply #27 on: December 23, 2010, 10:13:08 am »
Quote
Upon emergence the foundresses will be bred by the males (which die just like the honeybee drones) and the newly mated foundresses will seek shelter for the winter and will be the sole survivors of their parent colony and will establish a new colony the following spring.


I thought the queen mated in the Spring.  You use pheromones in a wasp trap so that game me the idea that they mated in the Spring.  If they mate in the fall what does the pheromone do?
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Offline David McLeod

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Re: Non honey bee removal
« Reply #28 on: December 23, 2010, 03:44:40 pm »
Actually, I have never seen a yj mate so I am going by the literature that they breed in the fall. The yj traps that I'm aware of use sugar as the attractant. I don't trap them so IDK.
Georgia Wildlife Services,Inc
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Atlanta (678) 572-8269 Macon (478) 227-4497
www.atlantawildliferemoval.net
georgiawildlifeservices@gmail.com

Offline Acebird

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Re: Non honey bee removal
« Reply #29 on: December 23, 2010, 03:56:09 pm »
The only one I have used had a pheromone that supposedly only attracted the queen.  We purchased property recently that had a carriage house where the attic was covered with wasp nests.  To be on the save side we bought a wasp trap and only got one critter.  There were some wasps flying around this year but nothing what we expected based on how many nest were in the carriage house.
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