How can we get bees out of a birdhouse without hurting them?
Question:They are really large bees, maybe carpenter bees. It's close to our garden and handy to have them pollinating the flowers, but worrying to have them buzzing around our heads so much. I'd prefer they move further into the woods to a hollow tree or some place like that.
Answers:
Unless it's a Purple Martin bird house, it wouldn't be large enough for a colony of honey bees, so you probably just have a "foul tempered box of buzzy and stingy things". If your bird house is tight, you might be able to sneak a cork in the entrance at night and move them. What I really want, is to video and upload to You-Tube one of these 'answerer's' trying to smoke them, it would be hysterical and painfull !! Smoke will only calm an otherwise healthy happy colony of domestic honeybees anything else is going to be really pissed-off !! One more thing, when you remove a queen for any reason or if she dies of natural causes the worker bees just make a new one. RScott
I wouldn't even try to save them. You never know when one sting will kill you.
Smoke them out. It seems to drive them out, without making them aggressive.
Good Luck!
remove the queen and they will follow
Get a bee keeper. They'll take the queen bee away and all the other bees will fallow. No harm done.
pump smoke into the birdhouse. this will calm them down and basically put them to sleep. you can then very gently remove them. it would be a good idea to keep the smoking source nearby tho, just in case they start to wake up
Smoke them out.But be careful
Smoke will make them sleepy. Cold will also put them to sleep. I would move the birdhouse, and get another one.
Can't you just cutdown / remove the birdhouse if it's possible (i.e. is it one of those port-o-birdhouses?). If that's possible to do so, then just call a pest specialist and give them the bee-infested birdhouse and they can take care of the rest. If you want another birdhouse just build one again... but make sure to eliminate anything that caused the infestation in the first place (i.e. sweet substances like sugar / honey, etc.)
Second option is to place a bowl of vinegar (?) near the birdhouse for a week and a half (I'm not quite sure to what extent of efficiency this plan works but it was my mothers method before). And hopefully the bees will move on to another nesting location.
Good luck.
Carpenter bees? The heck with pollination. They don't give a darn what realestate they ruin so I'd get rid of them pronto!
However, smoke calms bees so that hey can be handled and their hive/queen moved but i don't think you should try this if you don't know what you are doing or lack the protective gear in case wood isn't the only thing they like to chew on. be careful !
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