Honey bee removal from an Apt Soffit | Leavenworth, KS

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City: Leavenworth, Kansas

Property Type: Apartment Complex

Insect Type: Honey bees, often requiring professional honey bee removal services, as they can sometimes build nests in difficult areas like soffits. In such cases, beehive extraction and soffit repair may be necessary to ensure the safety and integrity of the building.

Honey bees were observed entering the apartment building’s soffit through gaps in the exterior, which indicated the presence of a beehive. With the building scheduled for professional painting, honey bee removal became essential to ensure the safety of the painters. This beehive extraction needed to occur before work began to address the immediate concern of potential stinging hazards to the painters and others working around the building, as well as to allow for necessary soffit repair.

The location of the beehive extraction was determined visually by examining the building’s construction methods and the area of honey bee removal activity. The nest entrance was traced to a void inside the soffit, which may require soffit repair.

Approximately 120 pounds of honeycomb was removed during the beehive extraction process. The golden-brown and very dark brown coloring indicated that portions of the comb were more than five years old. The colony was healthy and thriving, with an abundance of active brood. Following the honey bee removal, it is essential to consider soffit repair to prevent future infestations.

The soffit boards were carefully cut at the seams and across the affected area to expose the bee colony for the beehive extraction. The nest material was then removed along with the live honey bees during the honey bee removal process. To safely access the soffit and the roof, both a 40-foot ladder and a 28-foot ladder were utilized. A specialized bee vacuum was positioned on the roof and employed to collect the live bees, powered by an extension cord running from the building to facilitate the extraction.

The beehive extraction process involved the complete removal of the honeycomb, honey, and brood while ensuring the colony remained alive for relocation, including necessary honey bee removal and soffit repair.

The soffit boards were reattached and caulked around the remaining gaps as part of the soffit repair process. Later, the soffit was scheduled to be painted as part of the building-wide painting project. To help prevent another colony of honey bees from establishing in this same location after beehive extraction, the void space was treated appropriately.

The honey bee removal process involved the successful beehive extraction of the colony. Following this, a local professional painting company painted the building. This careful removal was coordinated to allow the scheduled exterior painting to proceed without exposing the painting crew to an active honey bee colony. Since the completion of the removal, there has been no known recurrence of a honey bee colony in this location, ensuring that any necessary soffit repair can be done safely.

Regular inspection of apartment buildings can help identify openings where honey bees and other insects may enter. In this case, gaps in the soffit allowed a large honey bee colony to establish inside the building. Keeping these gaps sealed through proper soffit repair is one of the best defenses against beehive establishment inside a structure. If honey bees are repeatedly entering a gap, the source should be investigated promptly to facilitate honey bee removal before the colony grows larger and more difficult to remove.

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