I have honey bees in a tree. Can I remove them and keep the bees? – Bee Health

The old queen is usually the last to leave the hive when honey bees are swarming.

The bees usually stay on the limbs of trees for several days, while the scouts bees look for nesting cavities. By dancing on the surface, they “tell” other honey bees the location of the cavity. The swarm will fly in flight if enough bees visit the cavity and begin to make new honeycomb. Problems can arise if the nest is located in someone’s home or near a tree where people often go.

If they are eating flowers, honey bees will sting to protect their nest. If you are not very close to their nest or if they accidentally land in your hair or get stuck in your clothes, you will rarely be a stinging risk. It is unlikely that children will be stung if the entrance is not above their heads. The bees could be attracted to children who are on the flight path.

To remove bees from trees, you will need to open the tree or cut it down in order to get the queen. It is best to remove the brood comb and wire from the tree and place them in empty frames in a regular hive. The queen will be the first to move into the hive. The queen can be moved to another location once it is dark, so all the bees are there.

Another method is available to remove most bees from a tree, but it can take up to two months and may not always work. It is not something I have ever heard of anyone who had succeeded. The process involves sealing only one entrance and placing an inverted screen funnel above it so the bees can exit but cannot return. An empty comb is added to the hive and placed near the exit hole. This will encourage most bees to move into the new hive. However, the queen and a few other bees will still remain in the tree. New bees will emerge and continue the nest. A dust known as apicide is approved to kill honeybees if it is absolutely necessary. Seven dust is more easily available and has the same active ingredient. You can inject it into the entrance using a dust sprayer. The colony will die after several treatments. Honey bee exterminators sometimes don’t kill them because they consider them endangered. Officially honey bees do not constitute an endangered species, so it is legal to kill them. Recent honey bee diseases and parasites have caused a lot of health problems for honey bees. However, beekeepers can still keep them if they manage these issues.