[dervish]

What’s a “cutout?”

[JustaDumbBlonde]

It is cutting a bee hive out of a wall or structure. Removing the hive and the bees. As long as bees are tending the comb, the honey does not leak. If you get rid of the bees, but not the comb, the comb would break down and leak everywhere. If it is in a ceiling or wall of a home, it will cause considerable damage. There can be 100-200 lbs. or more of honeycomb in a large hive.

Here is a photo of a cutout that we did last year in the roof over a bay window:

What we do during a cutout is take as much brood comb as is needed to keep the hive alive, some of the honey stores for food, and as many bees as we can catch or vacuum, including the queen. If we can't manage to get the queen, it is a bit more difficult to get the hive going in its new home, but not impossible. If you have a strong hive, they will hatch a new queen. You can also buy a queen from a breeder and "re-queen" the hive.