Rather than referring to the place where you keep your bees, what we usually mean by 'clearing' is the process of separating the honeycombs from their owners, the honeybees, so that the beekeeper can take them away without destroying the colony. There are a variety of methods to use, with the choice depending mainly on the scale on which you work, the time of year, and your proximity to other people. Owners that have lost possession are invariably, in the words of PG Wodehouse, if not actually disgruntled, far from being gruntled! An improvement on the labourious method of brushing the bees off each comb, bee blowers, like leaf blowers, are commercially available tools that are highly effective, if somewhat brutal. The beekeeper simply removes the box(es) complete, blows all its occupants 'into the long grass', and stacks the boxes on the back of his truck. It is what we might call an 'adversarial' technique, and results in a lot of adversaries in the air. Another such method uses a substance, for example benzaldehyde, held on a fume pad that produces an obnoxious odour, which drives the bees away from the combs. Bee Go (butyric anhydride) is one commercial product produced for the purpose, it's important to get the dose right, the weather conditions must be suitable, and you need to withstand a degree of queen loss. (continued...)