Sunday, July 1, 2018

Make no Mistake

This was a terrible idea.

After a day, you revisit the site, and vacuum the huge number of bees collecting outside, trying to find their way into the hive using the old entrance.  And for whatever reason, the vacuum is more successful than previous days, and you actually get draw through the bucket.  Thousands upon thousands of bees get pulled in.  High mortality rate, but they are getting removed.  And you can install them into another hive, where they can help out another queen.

About the time you are ready to call it a night, Mr Artiss comes and grabs you to talk about the bees inside.

Turns out, you should have read a little more before sealing the hive, because youwould have read this, as quoted from a blog by Mike Thomson:

NOTE: Whatever you do, DO NOT simply seal up the opening where you see bees entering & exiting. They will simply find another way out of the wall/floor where they reside. This often means that they will find a way into the interior of you home, harassing you and your family.
 (Wait.  Did you just say INTERIOR?!?)

Oops.

Yep.  The bees were congregated inside the window.  Piled inside.  Dead bees by the thousands, and live bees by the tens of thousands.  It was the stuff of nightmares.  With a Blues concert coming up in a matter of days, it was not just a minor issue.  It was something that required immediate, and persistent attention.

You show up the next day, beevac in tow, and climbed up the ladder to remove the bees.  There were BILLIONS of bees, and they all went into the beevac and made a sticky bee sludge (since then, you adjusted the suction, and are killing fewer bees).  After removing all the bees outside, you go inside where the bees were congregating at the window, and remove the thousands of bees there.  The window does not close all the way, and so you mistakenly assume that the bees were getting in through the crevice between the window and the sill.  Lots of bees.

Vacuum still sucking up and killing bees, you worked the room until there were only a few bees remaining.  You use your caulk to fill the space between the window and the sill, and then repeat the process, then repeat the process again, as the caulk settled and the hole opened back up.

And for each day for the next two weeks, you repeat the process.  Turns out that the bees had found a way into the attic, and were going towards the light at the window, congregating at what appeared to be an exit.

Once you have that area sealed up, the bees start finding their way into the auditorium.

By the way, it is now high school graduation season.  And the auditorium has daily events.

You chase your tail trying to eliminate the bees from the place where people are, but there are several stings.  Inside. And nothing you can do about it.

Eventually, the bees inside the walls die, and you are in the clear.  No complaints to the mayor's office.  No lawsuits.  And no allergic reactions.  Just a couple of people who are unhappy about getting stung.



Fortunately, or unfortunately, there is still another hive on the other side of the building.  I suggest you try trapping them out.

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