Safely removing bees from a chimney

Here is a fascinating account by Paul Hooper who was asked to move a hive of bees that had been living in a chimney for more than twenty years! As he says the owner of the farmhouse was quite keep on keeping the bees alive so Mr. Hooper had quite a task in front of him.

Removal of the bees was achieved by sealing all but one entrance to the hive, and placing a one-way escape on that remaining entrance. A single box hive was placed such that its entrance was adjacent to the escape. During all this activity the bees were very busy, going about their normal business apparently oblivious to the changes taking place in their environment. At no stage during the entire seven week operation did any of the bees exhibit any aggression – until the box hive was finally closed up and removed from its perch on the chimney.

There are loads of nice pictures to go with the article. Well done Mr. Hooper.