![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Fm8v25E5KqbaiQKXwfwSFi7-QXX18LUwa9Ff-7Yhiqyu-8z8FSTY4WsVUoR6OK4Y2iacVh2ws6VFU5T_OZVVpkBdsZEEbobGcTuFjjXYP56UOdNSG3Z3JRW_9emXh7Jc49ZJd6-UD9I/s400/1David_Krista.jpg)
Before calling us, Fernando had "smoked" the bees with some burning newspaper (not recommended, by the way), causing them to find their way up into a soffit just above the garage. David got started with a pry bar and hammer.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfODf3oJKnYpGSISIbdm7a2R4s7HL3eTgDBwHY1F6mdaGjXgex5FtnH7BywlEvqHkc-eeMey98cuv4S1PcyUeSrp5Wg_0j0B-gGmphoJM7Yjcc3_VAumvZ9UabHQmsBrEM75CJyaABs78/s400/2pry_board.jpg)
Here was the strangest part of the morning: after David had been extracting nails and banging the pry bar for a couple of minutes, we suddenly noticed that all the bees had disappeared. All of them—not one to be seen.
We walked around the house a couple of times, thinking the swarm might have moved to a nearby shrub or tree. Then, as I was standing under the garage, I suddenly saw one bee fly back to the soffet—followed by three, then 50, then 100. In less than a minute the entire swarm reappeared and ran back up into the soffit. Damndest thing I've ever seen.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCsodkMfZ1gGlJUb_-Qu7IcfP8MwK2tkPlkqF-dDyf7qoNlIPnucqeD3SY82k9ANNXqlEIUs6gz9cCVzFvqnqU1Rwi4x-BNSKv9gDpD93L92qm3joJw8wZ8uKJBNLdNOahK8dCeWwkVAc/s400/11swarm-in-soffet.jpg)
So we went back to work with the pry bar.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPuY-PCafCGVF66tk77Gt7FlZVkkFO09hzXU7OokDEdUEZzJAxryUzquT_1n7u34ZYn7I6HGeonPZ5G4C0Is0USS-IgEL0AkwhJOjyg9AHoyh8RcXR0RPovJ4fz5n4t38xoPuZVSEKe4Q/s400/3bees_returnv2.jpg)
David gave it one last pull...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqib2wZ22hpQNPN_WhumzUrLNLF2YRDyLPV8HDONFeUJCdMAqYS_GSCELIiZe5e2zggENk0ut-JreNtXcS33DxZNOli-zvn8a8Vi_gE-TF0WNPRe1i3tvZDbR3gs-UnDlRLH3BhfRTws/s400/4final_pryv2.jpg)
...and we had the swarm revealed. It was actually pretty small.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq4tztVhKgtzJc6CS09zslInack_LumYtr0y3gATe9jkrOVUOczbkg1yU2yg1tYQxIaq0pmJmuqrpGEyZ08LmYAOW8a5U_sbGWvEklQok6RFYGurl7x_Pav4ILKSJTEbrI1JxTYuWdalo/s400/5bees_reveal.jpg)
Kristy sprayed the bees with some sugar water to keep them from flying and give them something to do.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSNzy2UMvhSEmpBfW9DDrTgv_Zebp7GSajKuCmNz02Pu5XYaqgluvmtXZ0ZmmS8cX8TekaWZKGYnz8R0uX7RdgZBG5UoyYzI6Z-GzGxOR2qQzF-hdBXlcfeEFelU6wc4bPU2gft6D8lQ/s400/6spray_bees.jpg)
David took a plastic scoop (a water bottle modified by Backwards Beekeeper Maurice) and scooped the main bunch of bees into a box.
We were pretty sure we got the queen into the box when we saw bees fanning from the edge of it.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUVqwsR0gmSAFefvaP57ovWvU8NFmrW8eXXdJwTXPO9y30CMs9bexuV_RylyWD13S1vgeBEK0ht2CYlu7MCRbuyGT2JcDobLVFZ45NO0i1imGGlILSHGzRtCfW_U_1zjj-f8xnyoRvbDA/s400/12bees_fanning_closer.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKnMq1at_A6j-GmcW245AsNK7LRnVP1AZZtFKe37zibITo2z5wn7FXL-Ynw2rKQnA1C0yIx6FfNBm1BM0YEbvUXjOzRyK3bz4acSYHosj021oVa_tcwNEHJmmtMoEyJVtD7KSK9ZPLOys/s400/8bees_peeking.jpg)
Kristy checked that we had collected all the bees we could.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAoc3fm58soxJr2l6BoX6PwDYmGAf2j45s0VDrxyOi8o5M0ta-G454xnWOcOlmL3II5IMaDcs29Y9A_OrW7SOvRtgRMeTXuPcCuasNePXmQSHEs4LAi0zzo0jXPqRtHbASqZ6EAq3L8RU/s400/9Krista_looking.jpg)
Now two new beekeepers have bees (and are ready to teach others), and a Whittier family didn't have to call an exterminator. Definitely a win-win.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3wh-YJ9ofg7ThNBf3iLbOhuns7wpjnbjsy2uBah7oewlupoihr9_eC643kKsv5GKcb2pmK_Eo7iI1G0FaCYfjz-Wx2cfj6t5GO96nXCE2RmOmvhz4qZKNkCg0ZhgHl6nSgtVeuGJJ9yk/s400/10swarm_success.jpg)