# Cut out with persistent stragglers remaining???



## challenger (May 27, 2009)

I have had to do 3 call backs recently. One of them turned out to be a poor job by me in removing all the bees and the queen. This resulted in me having to open the structure again and removing comb, bees etc. This I can learn from and I don't have much issue with it other than call myself a few names that nobody else would likely get away with calling me, other than my wife of course . The two others were jobs where all the bees were removed but bees continued to congregate. The home owners called me saying the bees were back and so on. I went to these jobs almost immediately and tried to do what I could to remove stragglers and calm the homeowners. This time of year it is difficult to prevent stragglers from the removed hive from hanging around BUT it is more difficult to stop other bees that smell the remains of a removed hive from coming around looking for a source of honey. There is no way that I know of to remove all traces of honey scent and the bees around me are unable to find anything to forage on so they come looking for anything that smells the least but like honey. Most of the bees at these jobs are robbers and I vacuum them up as they arrive but there is only so much time that can be dedicated to vacuuming bees that are essentially harmless. Friday I spent three hours vacuuming bees as they came in numbers of 1-3 every few seconds. I was doing this while talking to the homeowner trying to convince her these bees did not establish a new hive . Mainly I was playing customer service and vacuuming bees to stay occupied. I finally left but there were still bees flying, and hanging around. What else can I do in these cases?
Thanks


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## fieldsofnaturalhoney (Feb 29, 2012)

I feel your pain I once had a homeowner call me every two days after a removal to tell me the bees are still there. I don't think you can do much more if you know the cavity is filled & sealed, they will dissipate over time. One thing I do the next morning after removing & before filling & sealing is spray bee bandit in the cavity forcing stragglers out to be vacuumed. In your case this may help on the exterior to get the robbers to go away faster. Make sure everything is clean, no honey remnants on structure or ground.


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## Bee Havin (Mar 1, 2017)

I have seen where some ppl paint the surface of the area of the hive that was remove with "KILZ" stain blocker. Can't say it works, but they claim it does.


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