It’s a scorching 30°C day in Johannesburg, and things are heating up inside a backyard shed! Today’s rescue at the Bee Sanctuary involved a colony that had moved into a black box and plastic bags stored on a shelf.

The “Meltdown” in the Shed

When bees choose a plastic or metal container in the South African heat, they face a serious challenge.

• Thermal Generation: Bees generate an enormous amount of heat themselves to keep the brood warm. Combined with the 30-degree ambient temperature, the heat inside the shed was intense.
• The Damage: We found that the plastic bags had actually started to melt onto the storage box. There was wax dripping from the cluster, and some of the honeycomb had become almost liquid. This is a critical situation; if the wax melts completely, the hive collapses and the bees can drown in their own honey.

The Two-Night Strategy

Because the hive was in a contained shed, we decided to use a “slow move” approach to ensure we got every single bee:

1. Manual Extraction: We carefully removed the comb and secured it into frames within a new catch box.
2. Luring the Colony: We placed the catch box on the same shelf where the original nest was. By leaving the box there overnight, we allowed the foragers and any stragglers to naturally move into the new hive to be with the queen.
3. The “100%” Success: We returned on the second night to find the box overflowing with bees. We used a tiny bit of smoke to nudge the last few stragglers inside and sealed the entrance with steel wool for a safe, ventilated trip to the Kyalami Apiary.

Final Relocation

Leaving the box for two nights was definitely the right call. We’ve managed to rescue what feels like 100% of the colony. They are now heading to our urban apiary to start over in a properly ventilated wooden hive where they won’t have to worry about melting plastic!

Every rescue like this brings us another step closer to our 3 to 300 hive goal.

Want to see how we handle “melted” comb?

I’ll be posting a video on how to salvage wax from a heat-damaged hive soon. Make sure to Subscribe to the Bee Sanctuary and hit the like button! Your support helps us save more bees across Gauteng.

Quick Question: What’s the hottest removal you’ve ever done? Have you ever seen a hive collapse from the heat? Let’s talk about it in the comments below!