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Another Craigslist Ad for Free Bees

2K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  PerryBee 
#1 ·
[h=2]WE HAVE HONEY BEES (Fountain City)[/h][HR][/HR]Date: 2012-04-22, 8:53AM EDT
Reply to: 4sbvq-2972340084@sale.craigslist.org [SUP][Errors when replying to ads?][/SUP] [HR][/HR]
We have had Bees build a hive between the bricks of our house. I have been stung twice already. Once while mowing and again while taking the attached photos.
My wife had contacted someone on cl and they wanted $250 to $300 to come and get them. I am not going to put out that kind of money to "SAVE" the bees!
I have already started looking into other ways to get rid of them but if someone wants to come and trap them for free prior to me killing them... Here's Your Chance.
We live in the fountain city area and you can contact me via email if interested.





She has talked to both G3 and I about removing them. I don't think I would do the trapout now even if she was ok with the charge.

I emailed her back with the following response:

Good luck with trying to kill them. You should know that most who do try though are not successful. Because your spray cannot get to the entire hive or even reach them at all. When you spray them and its unsuccessful and then decide to have a beekeeper come remove them the charge is usually doubled because of the poison that has been used and they are then putting that into their hive, they may have to purchase new equip.
If, by some chance, you do kill the bees you still have all of the brood (unhatched baby bees), pollen, and honey left in the wall to rot and ferment. This can cause major pest problems with mice and ants. Also, once the hive is defenseless the small hive beetle, SHB, will take over the hive and leave you with another nasty mess.
Just wanted to give you some things to consider before venturing out to spray them. If they are as defensive as you said they are, two sting with out doing anything to them, you'd better protect yourself good when trying to kill them because they will come out on you. Honey bee hives generally have a range of 20,000 to 60,000 bees in a colony.
The price you have stated for a removal is about average for a trapout in this area. The beekeeper will have a lot of labor invested in those "free" bees you spoke of. Setup and labor the first day on-site usually take from 3 to 5 hours and then multiple trips to the site to trapout to check progress make adjustments, if necessary, and then the final two days of the end of the trapout has some labor involved in it two. Gas being almost $4.00 a gallon isn't cheap.
Good luck if you still insist on killing them, be safe.
http://knoxville.craigslist.org/wan/2972340084.html
Connected by DROID on Verizon Wireless

James :rolling: Free bees :rolling:
 
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#3 ·
Yep she is in a pickle now, there are a couple of other beeks in the area that might do them for free but doubt it. That was a great reply there James, the very same thing we both told her up front a couple of weeks ago.

She needs the service worse than I need "free bees"!!
 
#4 ·
...........and when I talked to her the first time I gave her the link to here so she could actually see what a trap out looked like and also what could possibly be inside of her wall. She knows what is going on, but will have to say I did not go out and meet with them. Just wonder what it is her and her husband do for a living.............maybe they could barter some free services back my way.......yeah right!!....but you never know!
 
#5 ·
Had a call last year for a cutout and was told NO WAY to a $200. bid I gave on a wall, I gave pretty much the same info. as jm. Two months later I saw the folks at a swap meet and the wife told me that they got rid of them, $60. in raid/$225. to pest control and then in july when the comb failed and honey started leaking from the wall it cost them $600. to a contractor to repair the wall/remove the nest and $200 to clean the carpet that they would have to replace and they sure wished they had taken my bid. I smiled and said DIY folks are good for contractors. Jim
 
#6 ·
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell her about the staining issues and leaking honey. Oh well, I sure am learning a lot this season. Mostly from G3 sharing his experiences. :wink:


James
 
#9 ·
James has started something here that may well be worth pursuing: :think:
(maybe this should be posted in "swarms and cut-outs" too)

I wonder if it wouldn't be worthwhile putting together a small pamphlet with pretty much what James has explained along with a few graphic photos about what is probably going on inside some of these folks' walls and ceilings. I am sure a few beeks here could collaborate and come up with something that could be printed off on their computors and perhaps handed out when responding to an inquiry about bees in a wall, etc. Just add your name and number or a card to it. (price would be negotiated by each individual).
I am sure many of the homeowners are completely unaware of the problems that could arise, such as those described by Bsweet. Nothing like a few "pictures worth a thousand words" illustrating a few bad scenarios to perhaps point out the pitfalls of a $10 can of raid solution.
Some of us must have a few photos of ugly cut-outs we could share.
 
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