Thanks. I’m much more confident with a cutout, but the client insisted on no brick removal. We’ll see how it goes. Cheers

Hey Joe, thanks for watching. The idea of the trapout is to force the bees out over time. The wire mesh funnel act as a one way valve. It's easy for the bees to find their way out, but they con't find their way back in. They can see and smell the hive entrance through the mesh, but the opening in the funnel is far away. The foragers gather around the base of the funnel and will eventually hopefully be enticed to move into the nuc box. As each new generation of foragers come out of the funnel there are fewer bees left inside. With no food coming in, the queen stops laying and eventually heads out with the rest of the colony. In the mean time, if all goes well, the nuc box will be filled up and the queen can get to work straigh away. Its a slow process, but there's no damage to the wall or tree. The bees will make every effort to find a way back in, as you've seen in these videos, so it might take a few visits to seal off any newly found holes. Rodney Middleton uses steel wool as a gasket to seal around an uneven surface. I'll do that next time. Cheers, Mike

Thanks, they just changed the laws here in Ga. USA that prevents a beekeeper from doing cutouts without a contractor style license. But trapouts should work, they license guys are charge thousands. I think I can help the average guy with this method.

Thanks Joe, That’s the first time I’ve heard of such a law. There’s a range of cutout situations that go from handyman level to trade level. My most common cutouts involve cutting a section of Gyprock (plasterboard or Sheetrock?) to expose the comb. Care has to be taken to avoid cables and pipes, but otherwise very simple. I always stipulate that I only remove the bees and they need to engage someone to repair the hole in the wall. Brick removal is more difficult. I have a tool that allows removal with no damage to the bricks, but they still need someone else to set them back in. The repairs are the expensive bit. I guess the law is the law, though. So you can become the Georgia trap out master instead. Mike