Scheduled cutout between floors...

[joker1656]

I am waiting for our weather to even out a bit, but also just trying to get some free time to do these two cutouts. 

One is simple....(until I get started)  The other one looks to be a bit of a job. 

It is in a tri-level house.  The bees are going in over the top of a brick facade.  The facade stops at the bottom of the 2nd floor.  The house is well insulated.  I could not hear noise, or feel heat in the walls from the inside of the residence.  I could feel the temp change in the ceiling of the lower floor, though.  From all appearances the bees have taken up residence between the joists.

On top of this it appears that their hive stretches between two rooms.  I might be in for a treat.  I am wondering which would be better, go in from above or below. 

If I go in from below, I think I can keep from going from between rooms.  There is a large room, with most of the hive (I think), and off of that a closet.  It appears the hive ends in the closet. 

If from above, I would have to take up flooring on both sides of a wall.  It would be a quicker repair, but time consuming to remove them that way.  To me it seems that it would be like two seperate removals.

Is there enough info to get opinions from the pros?  If so, which is better...from above, or below?  Are there major advantages to one over the other that would trump the inconvenience of going between the rooms?  I am leaning toward going in from below.  Either way I hate doing them from the interior. 

Another question.....would it be a foul to close the entrance off on the outside, and then start the removal inside?  I am hoping to get the removal done, capture the queen (without sucking her up), hive the bees after the removal, move the hive outside to just below the old entrance, and leave it there for the night.  Then I would hope the locked out foragers would orient on the box, enter, and I could come back for the hive the following night. 

I have done a few cutouts, but the interior ones bug me.  Too many things to go wrong, in my book. 

Sorry for the lengthy post.     

[iddee]

From below, from below, from below.

Did I mention that you shouldn't do it from above?

All the comb is attached at the top, none of it is attached at the bottom. You can remove the ceiling and expose all the comb before beginning the removal. Remove the outside comb first, leaving the brood comb in the middle until last. Then remove the brood comb other than 2 pieces a foot long. You have a 10 times better chance of getting her that way.

DO NOT close off the outer entrance. You want the foragers to fly outside. Once you set the hive and brood outside, they will orient to it. It keeps fewer bees in the house that way.

[joker1656]

Iddee, thanks!  That confirms my thoughts on going in from below.  I did not think the "closing the entrance off" through.  Thank you for setting me straight.