Ephraim cutout (14 feet up)

Got a call a couple weeks ago from an apartment manager in Ephraim. He had a colony of bees in an apartment that he wanted removed.
We talked about it for a bit and decided we'd give it a try.

They were entering the building between the bricks at the end of a rain gutter above the third floor. We first checked the wells and ceiling inside the apartment (was vacant) but found no bees. We started poking holes in the wall of the entry stair and finally found them in the ceiling. We had 2 12 foot ladders but were not comfortable doing a cutout standing on the top of a ladder. The apartment manager rounded up some scaffolding for us. This positioned us about 6 feet beneath the hive and put them in easy reach.

We set up a bee vacuum on the roof to catch any field bees returning to the colony.
This worked great. The only thing I'd change is to set this up earlier. Maybe let it go all day (time permitting)

Video of bee vac in action.

I don't know why but it's funny to me to watch the bees get sucked right out of the air.

exploratory holes

Found 'em!

scaffolding setup

Mess

job done

Things we did right:

1 - The double bee vac system was awesome. We didn't end up with 30,000 bees on the outside when we were done.

Things I'd do different:
1 - start earlier (we didn't actually start the removal until about 8:30 pm (finished at 2)
2 - cover the ground better (faster clean up)
3 - make sure we have everything we need (including water) right where we are so we don't have to wander in and out tracking sticky mess
4 - take a cookie pan to place the comb on instead of trying to hand hold it or carrie it on a bucket lid. The cookie sheet will contain the mess better, plus we will be less likely to break the comb if it's fully supported.
5 - I need a better veil - mine isn't really suited for working above my head
6 - have all the empty frames prepared beforehand for tying the comb in. This includes already having the twine precut and attached. (or wires if we are going that route).
7 - Maybe  3rd vac for mess clean up. Can't clean up the mess with a vacuum already full of bees.
8 - Setup our comb tie in area closer to the actual cutout. less mess walking around with comb.
9 - Extra power cords
10 - learn how to use the bee vac to get the girls from between the combs. If we could remove ALL bees before attempting to cut comb, it would be a lot less messy. As it is, we can remove the bees from the side of the comb we can see, cut the comb, then hold the comb (dripping) while we remove the bees from the other side. Messy
11 head lamp mounted over my veil