Welcome back to the Bee Sanctuary! Today is a special milestone for me. I’m out in the field with my mentor, Hannes Robler from Bee Alive. Hannes was my very first teacher, and being back on a job with him is a massive privilege as we push toward our goal of saving 10,000 colonies.

Tonight’s mission? A steep-roofed house in Johannesburg where a colony has moved deep into the chimney.

Custom Gear for a Technical Site

You can’t just lean a ladder against a chimney and hope for the best. To tackle this safely, we had to perform some serious site modifications:

• The Roof Hook: Hannes modified a ladder to hook securely over the roof apex, ensuring it won’t slip on the steep pitch.
• The Chimney Platform: We built and attached a custom wooden platform to the side of the chimney. This gave us a flat, secure surface to stand on while pulling long slabs of comb out from the top.
• The Long-Reach Cutter: Since the comb was deep inside, Hannes used a specialized support rod and a long-reach cutter. You slide the support into the comb to take the weight, cut it loose from the masonry, and pull the entire slab out by hand.

Excavating “Old” History

Once we removed the chimney tiles, we discovered that the previous owners had tried to seal the bees out with plastic.

• The Result: The plastic had become rock-hard over time. The bees simply built their comb right onto (or through) the plastic.
• Multiple Occupants: The comb was very dark and old, indicating that while this might be a newer swarm, they are living in a cavity that has hosted many colonies before them.

The Vacuum Strategy

Working in a vertical shaft like a chimney is tricky because if the bees get agitated, they tend to drop straight down into the fireplace.

1. The Wait: We gave the bees time to move up the sides of the chimney so they were more widely spread.
2. The Vac: We vacuumed the main clusters from the walls first to prevent a “bee-fall” before we started cutting into the brood comb.
3. Preservation: Every piece of healthy brood was carefully retrieved and placed into a hive box to be relocated to the Kyalami Apiary.

Relocating the Chimney Survivors

This was a highly technical, high-altitude job, and there’s no one better to learn from than a master like Hannes. This colony is now safe, off the roof, and ready to thrive in a proper hive box.

Want to see the custom chimney platform in action?

I’ll be posting the full technical breakdown of the gear we used soon. Make sure to Subscribe to the Bee Sanctuary and hit that notification bell!

Quick Question: What’s the most “extreme” location you’ve ever seen a beehive? A chimney, a skyscraper, or something else? Let’s talk shop in the comments!

How should we proceed? Would you like a detailed look at Hannes’s modified ladder and cutter, or are you ready for our next garden rescue mission?