Removing a bee hive from the mast

[Juho]

One possible eviction method could be heat. Bees tend to swarm when they are too tightly packed and the hive gets hot. Maybe a hair dryer blowing hot air in to the mast for a while would do it.

[JPA Cate]

It's a complicated problem. These bees know masts as a good place to have a hive. If he just makes them swarm, there's nothing to keep them from going elsewhere on his own boat, or on his neighbors. It's a popular marina, but our OP would become very unpopular if he "infected" others' boats.

So, he needs to keep from being stung, and he needs to quiet the bees and convince them to leave, and then, to remove the attractive nuisance they've left behind! Just getting the wax and honey out of his halyards is going to be a real mess.

Time to get an illustrated English>Spanish dictionary, and some help from bilingual marina staff.

Ann

[Clamdigger]

Mike, like I mentioned in my previous post 25 or so ago, your best solution is to unstep your mast and submerge it. You can then pressure wash out the mast after you remove the masthead. Once cleaned out wipe the inside of the mast with grain alcohol to remove any traces of bee scent. Wash or replace the halyards end for end to deal with them. Saltwater will reduce but not eliminate the wax left on the lines. If you dont do it this way I can guarantee that when you get to CR you WILL get a new swarm in the mast. That hurricane wilma thats hitting mexico now will keep them in the mast until it passes. You are killing at best 50-100 bees at a time the way you are going about it now.

I spent 3 years in CR on the Pacific coast doing marina development, dealt with bees more than I cared to. If you get to CR and your current hive are not Africanized, just wait a week and that will change! Africanized bees will take over the hive making it much harder to unstep the mast.

[Casimkus]

As a hobbies beekeeper I say Try a local beekeeper. They may have a low power vacuum to suck all the bees out including the queen and relocate them. The bees May return to clean out all the honey but if the queen is gone they won’t stay. It won’t be recoloniseed just because it’s there. Best to then clean it all out as there are some nasty bee killing infections that can be present as well as mites and bugs
The beekeeper May be able to say if it’s infected with anything.
Or not. Clear customs might be tricky if the see hive material
On the mast as there is a worldwide movement to reduce contamination. The honey bee population s are dying out and if you save one hive then you have made a huge contribution to the world.

[Juho]

Originally Posted by Clamdigger

Mike, like I mentioned in my previous post 25 or so ago, your best solution is to unstep your mast and submerge it. You can then pressure wash out the mast after you remove the masthead. Once cleaned out wipe the inside of the mast with grain alcohol to remove any traces of bee scent. Wash or replace the halyards end for end to deal with them. Saltwater will reduce but not eliminate the wax left on the lines. If you dont do it this way I can guarantee that when you get to CR you WILL get a new swarm in the mast. That hurricane wilma thats hitting mexico now will keep them in the mast until it passes. You are killing at best 50-100 bees at a time the way you are going about it now.

I spent 3 years in CR on the Pacific coast doing marina development, dealt with bees more than I cared to. If you get to CR and your current hive are not Africanized, just wait a week and that will change! Africanized bees will take over the hive making it much harder to unstep the mast.

It makes sense to unstep and clean the mast. Submerging would surely work. If it is possible to unstep the mast this way, with the bees still inside, it could also be possible to evict the bees slowly with water and direct them to a new hive. A local beekeeper could do this, with water or with his own tricks, now when the hive is easier to access.

[Brutus1979]

My suggestion is to visit the local Fire Department or Bombaderos and make a donation, and invite them to a "training exercise " and have them blow it off with their hose.
Don't do this at the marina, if there is a nearby bridge, they could set up on the bridge, and you could motor to it, anchor, and have them blast it off.
As a former firefighter, we like solving problems.

[Training Wheels]

I believe the hive is inside the mast.

[Falbala60]

HUM where are you in Mexico ? Yucatan ? Riviera Maya ?
If yes, check if they are MELIPONAS bees, very small smaller than a domestic fly.
If YES...
THEY HAVE NO DART .., and make a very healty honey... check on the net !
And their honey is sold 4 to 10 times higher than normal bees.
HA HA ! but this is not a joke, I have a friend that have a melipona farm.

[Bridger]

I get them out of my ridge at home about 30 ft up with long lengths of 1.25 inch PVC glued together and hooked to a shop vac. You put water and a foaming soap in vac bucket. You get the pvc close to the nest with halyard in your case, they attack it and get sucked down the tube into foam which takes care of business. Eventually I get it close enough to suck bits of nest and that’s it. Good luck

[mikereed100]

Last night we made an assault on the bees with only partial success. One of the local marina workers and I dressed up in our best makeshift bee suits and I hauled him up the mast with a couple of cans of Raid. He sprayed in every hole he could find while I did the same from below. it was pretty creepy and a bit unnerving. We made a huge dent in the population with only a couple of stings to show for it, but the hive remains active. Looking at the wax on the halyard the hive could occupy the top 10' of the mast, so I'm not surprised we didn't get them all. We leave for Costa Rica in the morning, so, hopefully, between moving and continued spraying and hoisting nasty smelling items to the top of the mast, we can persuade them to find greener pastures.

[JasonL]

A drone?

The bees may feel that the closeness and noise of a drone, is a threat, and swarm around it, meanwhile, the spinning blades are chopping them in half!

[JPA Cate]

Bon voyage, Mike, and good luck with it. Please report back. There may be more adventure with this than one's comfort level enjoys.

Ann

[mikereed100]

True dat. The bees have gone and when we get to Costa Rica I will be able to go to the masthead and start cleanup, but to do a proper job we will have to pull the mast and steam clean it. We already have wasps investigating the hive. We will continue the search for "bolas de nafthalina" or some other noxious stuff to put in the mast to discourage boarders until we can deal with the hive.

I will certainly report back on how the cleanup goes. It sounds like this is not an uncommon problem and, hopefully, those who experience the same in the future will find this thread and all the excellent suggestions (and the crazy ones) offered here.

[Jimmy4]

Pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum) flower oil. Available in Mexico because they grow tons of these plants for export. Spray it on and around the hive. Bees hate it and move out and stay out. Then you can go up and remove hive. We had a very large bee hive and it was high up — too high to reach and inside a soffit of a very old well built house. Hired a pest guys and nonpoisons kept them away — new swarm is attracted to even a small amount of honey left over. Year after year and many Raid cans and other cans later .... get pyrethrum oil and load a squirt gun or other device. PS. Not toxic to humans and bees leave unharmed too. Given that you clearly have access to internet, order online and Rush deliver via FedEx or some other service.
Leaving port with bees is not a great idea. Piss them off at sea and you have a disaster with bees swarming the helmsman. Also bees have a long term good source in their hive.
Other option is to try a real smoke bomb ... not some toy citronella package. For a small sum, the local policia might be willing to lend you a smoke bomb and you could raise this to disorient the bees. (Just buy the pyrethrum) good luck , been there 😎

[Cadence]

Mike they did make it in semicircular pieces with a wire to hang it on a cloths rod It might be one of those items that are in an area of a store you would not suspect. Then again it may be an ecological taboo today.