Hey JoHnny,
I finally salvaged one of the photos I took when you and your sister made a visit with Joyce and me in February.
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If you've already called an apiarist and the State folks say it's alright to kill the bees then you've got two options... remove the hive yourself and save a few hundred dollars or call a Honey Bee structure removal service. The repair costs will be about the same either way.
If you want to do it yourself, you've got two more options, save the honey or trash it and go through the siding on outside wall or sheetrock on the inside. I helped a neighbor do this in Texas many years ago and we went through the inside wall as there was no good way of cutting through the exterior siding without creating a greater repair expense... We used the method below and saved the honey.
In any event, you'll need to get rid of the hive, bees and any honeycomb from the wall structure area as any honey will seep through the siding or sheetrock making a mess that will attract ants and other critters once the bees are gone.
If you decide to DIY to save honey, find the entrance to the hive and the general location of the hive comb area itself. In most cases the hive is located between wall studs near the header in the upper half of the wall and usually on the paper side of the wall insulation. You should be able to hear the bees from the inside wall during the day. If this is the case, locate the main exterior entrance to the hive, wait until night and block it with a wet paper towel held in place with a stick.
You'll need a plastic drop cloth, two clean hefty trash bags, a freshly charged CO2 fire extinguisher with as long a hose as possible (two 5 lb or one 10 lb extinguisher should do the trick), a box cutter, a cake knife, a large pancake spatula, a pair of heavy work gloves, a pair rubber gloves, an old towel, a mesh citrus bag or an old pair of pantyhose, and a vacuum cleaner. Use a pencil to mark the studs and the approximate location of the hive comb and lay the plastic sheet on the floor below.
Use the box cutter to gently cut a hole through the sheetrock between the studs and below the comb area large enough to insert the fire extinguisher hose without the cone if you can remove it. Cut a second smaller hole above the hive below the header near the ceiling as a vent and thumbtack the mesh bag or pantyhose over the hole. Insert the the fire extinguisher hose (less cone) through the hole and any fiberglass insulation pointed upward between the studs and stuff the towel around the hose. Empty half the extinguisher angling the hose back and forth from side to side then listen. If you hear buzzing keep giving more shots of CO2 until the buzzing stops.
This should freeze the hive and its occupants or chill the bees sufficiently to safely remove a section of sheetrock between the wall studs so you can see the extent of the hive's comb. You may need to remove the fiberglass insulation to get to the comb. Place the insulation in one of the trash bags just in case any of the bees that are still alive warm up and become problematic. Once you've got the comb exposed look for any movement. If you see any bees still moving, frost the comb area again with the fire extinguisher. The comb should look something like the one shown following photo.
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Once you're sure the bees are dead, start cutting away the comb with the cake knife and pancake spatula and place it in one of the clean plastic trash bags bees and all. Your local apiarist will be able to spin off the honey for you. Again, getting all the comb and bees out is important as any residual honey will eventually seep through the sheetrock. After that you'll need to cut away most of the insulation, scrape any remaining comb away between the wall studs and place it in the second trash bag. Finally you'll need to vacuum out the space between the wall studs down to the footer.
If you don't want to save the honey or the bees are up in the soffit or in the attic area, call an exterminator.
Take care,
V/R, Batch
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