Bees at Offices

NBC Environment were contacted by the client to request attendance and treat what was initially thought to be a wasp’s nest.

Upon arrival it was discovered they were in fact Honeybee’s (Apis mellifera) there were two entry points onto the 2nd floor of the building within two meters of each other behind air cooling units.

A honeybee colony typically consists of three kinds of adult bees: workers, drones, and a queen. Several thousand worker bees cooperate in nest building, food collection, and brood rearing. Each member has a definite task to perform, related to its adult age Honeybee’s will nest in most building voids, but they will also create nests within hollow trees.

 Honeybee’s will sting once, however they will only attack when threatened. But, as with wasps, the 'smell' of a bee’s venom causes other bees to attack.

Our Solution

NBC Consulted with the client, completing an urgent survey, attending site to complete a non-lethal removal of the honeybees the very next day following the urgent call being raised.

Working alongside our Supply Partner Gino, a professional beekeeper, we were able to gain access to the second elevation and start removing the external brick work to gain access to the colony. As with all bee colonies until we can gain access, it is impossible to understand the size of the nest.

Wearing a full bee suit, in 24 degree’s Gino got to work removing the brick work from the two entry points. From here we were able to gauge the size of the nest and start to remove the honeycomb and bees.

Due to the importance of the Honeybee in society it was imperative all the bees were removed and rehomed rather than lethally destroyed.

Once all the combs had been removed, we then set about cleaning the area to remove the attractant of any left-over honey residue to prevent attracting any other foraging bees.

The area was then boarded to guarantee no further entry from bees until the building contractor could attend and replace the brick wall.