# Now I understand why beekeeprs charge $300 for trap-outs!



## dehavik (Jun 5, 2010)

Got my first call for "free" bees after months of getting the word out. I've wanted to do a trap-out for a while and decided my first attempt would be free (for experience's sake). The house was a 45-minute drive so I packed everything I could possible need for the set-up. When I arrived, the owners told me that another beekeeper had removed the bees a few years before, but that they had come back. 

The owners had been in residence for over 15 years, and they had had bees living in that building the whole time, so I assumed the hive was expansive. The bees' entrance was the doorframe, and the walls were chinked with foam spray from the owners' attempts to seal the numerous bee portals. I set everything up near the old entrance, the bait hive on a ladder, and drilled into the wall. Nothing. I hammered the wall near the hole. Not a sound. The house was right by the freeway, so I had difficulty listening for buzzing behind the walls. I resorted to drilling thin holes all along the wall and looking for wax on the drill bit. Finally found that the hive was just around the doorframe. The colony that moved in a few years ago had not returned to the old hive, but made a new one adjacent to the old.

After my many attempts to place the bait hive in an easy, accessible place failed, I was left with the option of mounting it above the door. At least the bees would be above the main traffic area, instead of in the middle of it (where people had been stung). With the aid of poor ladder placement and back-breaking contortions, I managed to set up the hive and the trap-out cone. 

I used the owners' foam insulation spray to seal the (numerous) holes along the door jamb, above the door, next to the door, along the wall. I could see the little honeys gnawing fretfully at each crack they could find, enlarging the holes to make a new entrance. Their tenacity scares me, and I can envision the entire wall needing to be covered in spray foam (which the bees can probably chew through, too).

The bees were amazing. I was drilling, hammering, spraying, tapping, hoisting, and generally clanging around at their hive entrances, and they took no more notice of me than if I was the door itself. It also stormed and drizzled the entire four hours I was there. Not even a single head-butt. Just a confused buzzing of "Hey, the door was right here when I left! I'd love to get the queen, but it's an unlikely prospect, I know.

I told the owners, because of the state of their walls, that we'll give it a good try for a month, but if the bees just keep finding or making new entrances, I didn't think anything short of extermination would get them out. They don't want the walls removed. The bees seem to be in the _inside_ wall, which is thickly plastered. Wish me luck. A successful trap-out is all I ask.















The arrow on the cone base is not to direct the bees to their new home. It’s to help the dumb beekeeper know where the hive is.


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## judyv47954 (Jun 5, 2011)

Oh boy, a FREE Trap-out/cut-out! 

Just say to yourself, "Never again!"


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## raosmun (Sep 10, 2009)

Good luck! I am on my second year, third hive start and haven't got all of them out yet!


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## Jim 134 (Dec 1, 2007)

FREE BEES Trap-out/cut-out! and no money :shhhh: :lpf::lpf: are you getting FREE GAS to now you know .



BEE HAPPY Jim 134


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## rtoney (Apr 20, 2011)

We all learn, my first cut out was only 20 miles away 1st trip to inspect the house, 2nd trip to cut out, 
3rd trip to get the queen that I did not get on trip 2. I did get paid 100.00 for the job but gave my son half for working the smoker.
Did not pay good but for the first it was experience.


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## Bsweet (Apr 9, 2010)

dehavik, Keep an eye on them bees they can and will chew through the spray foam unless you stuff steel wool or metal screen in the holes and cracks BEFORE you use the foam. I normally speend 3-4 hours AFTER the cone goes on watching for back doors and then visit for the next 2-3 days to check and make sure they haven't found or made more. I started a trap out on 6-11 and I MIGHT start the robbing phase this weekend and so far I have made 9 trips to check on it, good thing its only 14 miles from my home, so far cost is about 50% of my charge. Jim


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## dehavik (Jun 5, 2010)

Jim, what do you charge for a trap-out? I'm sure as heck charging for the next one I do!


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## Bsweet (Apr 9, 2010)

I'll send you a PM


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## D Semple (Jun 18, 2010)

Looks to me like a cutout could have been done easier.


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## dehavik (Jun 5, 2010)

D Semple said:


> Looks to me like a cutout could have been done easier.


I would have preferred to do a cut-out myself, but the owners did not want any damage done to their building. I even brought all my cut-out gear just in case. No go.


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## beyondthesidewalks (Dec 1, 2007)

Dark brown caulk might have gone a long way to solving you problem and wouldn't have been such an eye-sore. You could leave the tube of caulk with the homeowner and let them caulk up new entrances for you. Might save you some trips.

Now you know why some of us just walk away.


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## dehavik (Jun 5, 2010)

That foam is ugly, isn't it? It's what the owners have been using to combat the bees these last few years, and there was plenty to be had. Brown caulk is a good idea. I brought silicone sealant, but the foam was 100x easier to apply. Will the bees chew away the caulk?


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## beyondthesidewalks (Dec 1, 2007)

I've had bees chew it up and some that didn't. It's the hard part of a trap out. Unless I have a high probabilty of sealing the hive I don't even bother trying. Years ago I tried a trap out on some bees in an old house like this one. I made several trips only to find that every entrance I plugged up led to another one. I finally gave up and left. The owner didn't want to let me do a cutout. I got tired of going back to see no progress.


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## virginiawolf (Feb 18, 2011)

I've never done this before. Thanks for sharing the experience. After all the work I hope you get the queen


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