For those that responded or might remember, I'm the one who needed a bee suit asap. That problem was solved by a beek friend of mine who graciously loaned me one of hers.
I got the yellow jacket colony out. That was not fun. I did fine for the initial clean-out. I got the soffit removed and luckily their colony was just before the honey bee colony. I pulled out the paper-like comb and vacuumed up most of the yellow jackets as they swarmed around the area. Didn't get stung once. I had long johns on and sweat pants over that with a hooded bee jacket. Worked great. Anyway, that night I went out to vacuum up the stragglers. Hmmm, there weren't as many as I thought. Oh, well. Took care of them and then went into the house. I started yelling and ripping my pants off as fast as I could. Got stung five times on one leg. After all this went back out to figure out what happened. Why I got stung and why there weren't as many stragglers were both answered. I had unknowingly left a few pieces of comb on the ground (I have a fairly thick ivy-like ground cover growing here and didn't see them). These pieces were smaller than a fist but just crawling with yellow jackets. Of course while I was out there looking up at where the nest used to be and wondering where the rest of them were, I was standing right in where the comb pieces were. I'm lucky I only got five stings.
OK, so then I get to the honey bee colony this morning while it was nice and cool (downright chilly for you southerners). I got the soffit off and found the bees right away. I was glad to see they had set up original house right at the end of the overhang. BUT, they have started to build comb into the house area under our main floor. This is still easily accessable, but I will need to cut out this new comb and seal off that area. Now once that is sealed off, the bees will have a space that is about 16" wide and 20 to 22 inches long by about 8 inches deep. I will need to cover this and leave an entrance/exit slot for them.
1. Is this enough space for them to last the winter?
2. How wide should the opening be for the entrance/exit?
3. The colony is now completely exposed underneath. How much time (if any) do I have to get them covered up? Night time temps are now down in the 40s. I can tack some cardboard up there temporarily, but I plan on screwing in a fitted piece of plywood.
Any info or advice out there?
If all goes well I will be ready by spring to cut them out and move them to my own hive.
Thanks for any help.