# Post Cutout Bees Won't Leave



## DeederMc (Oct 24, 2013)

Hi all,

I did my first cut out three days ago from a wall in my house. I'd let them go for a long time since they were in a brick wall and not hurting anything, but we had some workmen coming and they weren't comfortable with a hive so close. The cutout didn't go perfectly by any means: I was able to get all their brood comb and put it in frames, but their honey comb was higher in the wall behind concrete. I had no choice but to stick my arm up there and scrape out the honey comb with a flat putty knife, put it all in buckets, and set the bucket near their new hive, which is about 150' away in a different part of the yard. They have been taking that honey since the cutout, and the new hive seems fine (though there are some ants trying to get into the hive, and I spread cinnamon to discourage them.)

The problem is there are still a lot of bees in the area of the cut out. I've tried leaving the opening wide open, covering it with a tarp and sealing the edges, and in desperation before the workers came I even took some organic bug repellent and sprayed the edges of the wall, thinking if I made it stinky they'd leave. I thought maybe I missed a section of comb, but I've probed the surrounding sections with a drill and found no other comb. I thought after a day or two their number would decrease, but it hasn't.

I am eager to learn what I've done wrong here, and most importantly right now, how to discourage the girls from hanging out at the old site - the workmen are here but they're clearly terrified even though the hangers-on are not being particularly aggressive.

Thanks,

Deirdre


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Welcome to Beesource!

Those bees are harvesting the remaining honey. They will likely continue to do so until all the honey is gone, or its too cold to fly, or the hole is completely sealed.


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## DeederMc (Oct 24, 2013)

Thanks that makes sense! Unfortunately there was a lot of spilled honey.


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## Cleo C. Hogan Jr (Feb 27, 2010)

As Radar said, some are likely robbing the remaining honey, but, it is also possible that those are field bees that you caught, and they are returning to their original hive, which is only 150 ft from the spot you moved them from. These field bees are near the end of their life span, and won't be around for very many days, but, only moving a cutout 150 ft will have a lot of bees returning to the original site for several days.

cchoganjr


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## jredburn (Feb 25, 2012)

Take a spray bottle and fill it with liquid dishwashing soap and water. Spray the whole area until it is quite wet. Slap piece of plywood over the hole and seal the edges until the workes leave, then do a professional repair.
Regards
Joe


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## primeonly27 (Jun 23, 2011)

Some types of caulking over the plywood the bees with chew right through. Soapy water will kill the bees. IF you really want to kill them and get them gone use a bucket type shop vac from home depot. And some no pest strip it is yellow and looks like a rubber strip inside a white plastic protector. Get a piece the yellow no pest strip and put in the hole where the field bees are going in and out. In about a day all those bees will be dead. If you want to save them build a bee vac or buy one from brushy mountian.


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## deknow (Jul 17, 2006)

...or put a nuc with a frame of brood at the old location. At night, most (if not all) of the bees at the old location should be in the nuc (unless there is still a queen at the old location somewhere), and can be moved a couple of miles away. You could try recombining after a couple of weeks, or just consider this a split. All of this depends on your weather and where you are in your season.

deknow


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

In these type of circumstances, I pull out my little spray bottle of Fischer's Bee Quick®, spritz some up into the area the bees are collecting at, also spritz some on rags or paper wadding, then use the rags/wadding to seal off the affected area, as much as possible. Repeat periodically, as needed.


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## deknow (Jul 17, 2006)

Also, you really _have_ to fill the gap where the bees were. Fiberglass insulation is usually best. "Rags" sounds like a bit more of a fire hazard.

deknow


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

deknow, 

I only meant the rags to be temporary, just until the bees finally abandon their old abode. If you're actually finished with the cut-out job, you probably only need to spray the Fischer's Bee Quick®, rather heavily, then the work to close/repair the wall can be accomplished fairly soon, without bees interfering in the process. Also the Fischer's Bee Quick® has a rather pleasant fragrance, yet the bees don't seem to tolerate it.


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