I have in unauthorized hive under my house. They are going in and out of the vent. I like bees don’t want to kill them. How can I get them out without killing them and maybe get a hive going outside? They have been there for months. They have been fine, the other day we had tree trimmers in the yard must have stirred them up because I went in my back yard and got stung in the back. I always walk near them I have no fear of them but they were I guess upset so I got stung. I have dogs and don’t want them getting hurt by them. What can or do I do to fix this?
Hello Pantara. Let’s first establish what type of bee you have-- how do you know it is a honeybee? The picture I’ve included here could be helpful; the honeybee is the one top right.
The likely easiest thing to do if it is honeybees is to contact a local beekeeping person in your area who would be willing to come over to retrieve the nest and get them into a bee box. Obviously you are on Flow Hive’s forum so perhaps you want to buy one from the company and are willing to wait for delivery and do the assembly work etc to get them into that equipment. There is likely a bee supply store somewhere in your area that sells traditional Langstroth hive boxes and the necessary things you would need to become a beekeeper as well. Those are choices for you to make-- but crashing into becoming a beekeeper without educating yourself and having a mentor/bee-buddy with more experience is something I wouldn’t recommend out of the gate as there are a lot of things to be aware of or your could see all that work go to waste. I’m happy you are asking for help-- that is a good sign.
The primary thing needed in rescuing a hive is to locate the queen and get her moved into a proper bee box and keep the box near the hive until all the other bees move into the box. She won’t go willingly, nor will the other bees if you don’t get her and all the brood in development. If you aren’t sure what I’m talking about all the more reason to find a local beekeeper to ask for their help. Usually beekeepers are happy to assist, but you may need to be prepared to pay them as this sounds a bit involved under your house unless it is easy to access.
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Getting the bees out isn’t a job for you to tackle, it needs someone with some experience to do it successfully. Contact your local bee group and someone there might be able to transfer them into a hive for you to begin bee keeping. Depending on how involved the transfer is might involve some time and cost as the queen must be found and transferred as well as most of the brood. Keep us updated.
Cheers
Yes it is honeybees. That’s why I would like to save them. I have a crawl space under the house…
I’m bumping @Dawn_SD in case she’s around, the SD stands for San Diego 
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Good idea Eva, in my opinion it sounds like a relatively easy removal if the comb is easy to get to but if
@Pantara is not a queen bee ‘spotter’ she needs someone who is to do the job successfully.
Cheers
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Thank you @Eva!
Here are some local members of my beekeepers association who will do a live removal (not poison the bees). It won’t be free, but they are respected beekeepers.
Hilary at Girl Next Door Honey is a good choice if you think you might want to learn to keep bees.
https://girlnextdoorhoney.com/live-bee-removal/
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