Of all the tricky spots we have rescued bees from, this colony has to go close to winning the prize. At least 9m off the ground, behind the cladding of this pole-house in Buderim.

The home-owner decided that the best way to access the hive was to build a temporary platform and yes, this was more comfortable than working off a cherry picker, but still presented a tight working space. I’m glad I’ve got my new polystyrene bee-vacuum built and running as it would have been quite a challenge to lug my old wooden bee-vac up to this height.

The queen proved somewhat elusive on this job and ended up in the bee-vac. Even then she took a bit of finding as she was relatively small and the markings on her abdomen where not that different to her daughters allowing her to really blend in.

Thank you Ian for calling us in to do this beehive removal and save another colony of bees.