with your advice! Aack honey bees began swarming in our bathroom wall 2 hours ago. They are not in the attic, but are going under the roof flashing and down into the wall. Hate to have them exterminated, but as I recall, in this case it’s the only option. Any expert advice on the possibility of discouraging them right away?
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I'm no apiary, but i grew up among several. They use a netral misture for the smokers that "shoo" the bees off. Your smoke detector would probably not like it is you set out some shaved oak pot pourie.
Close the room off as much as possible the better to not disturb the girls. If you must go in, use as much white clothing as possible, including a bit of cheesecloth to cover the face (which heps prevent flinching on your part). Get a candle, preferably not a drip free, light it, then blow it out so it smoulders a bit. Bees evovled with prey that was generally dark, and exhaling CO2. White is not as distinguishable a color, and the CO2 coming off the candle helps confuse your location.
You are likely correct, the hive will need exterminating, like as not (more because it's be too damaging to get to where the queen is, and haul her out to create a "swarm"). That, and you may not have european "honey" bees, but "carpenter" honey bees--both of which leave sticky comb behind, which needs to be cleaned off the structure so as t ono attract some other beastie, or change the moisture content which ever way is wrong for your particular framing.
If it just happened it may just be the exploratory swarm seeking a location and not the motherlode.
If that is the case then at yer earliest opportunity plug ALL the openings around the area they are getting in and spray the daylights out of the entire area.
You may get lucky and dissuade them from messing with you and thus head on to a different location.
bump
-Thoreau's Walden
a couple of possibilities -
before a swarm moves in, 'scout' bees investigate various possibilities for a new colony location - if your situation involves a modest number of individuals (maybe a dozen at a time, investigating openings) this is possible, in which case closing up said holes will discourage any more interest in your location -
but from your description it sounds more like the swarm has arrived and has actually taken up residency - if there are multible individuals coming and going from the entrance on a regular basis - a more difficult situation - the queen is in the wall cavity and there is no way to drive her out -
at this early stage there is little/no comb built and it's important that you not let them fill the stud space up -
if this is the case, this is my recommendation -
take your 2 gallon garden pump up sprayer, fill it with water and a cup of dishwashing detergent, get yourself a lawn chair and a book/entertainment, set up shop where you can hose the bees as they come and go - a touch of this solution and they drop and die - over the course of a morning or afternoon you can decimate the population, and then seal the hole in the evening with only a few hundred trapped in the wall - no big deal, as long as there are not alternative entrances, especially entrances to the inside of the house -
get on it quick before they get a bunch of comb built and filled...
Why the big panic? It shouldn't be too hard to find a local beekeeper who will be glad to help out. Your local pest control people probably know where one is. They ain't that dangerous.
I've had hives and that candle trick isn't going to work. You'd need a smoker, and they need some honey for that to work.
This is not a decisionl you need to make today.
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The owner of the axe, as he released his hold on it, said that it was the apple of his eye; but I returned it sharper than I received it. It was a pleasant hillside where I worked, covered with pine woods, through which I looked out on the pond, and a small open field in the woods where pines and hickories were springing up. -Thoreau's Walden
Edited 5/22/2007 12:37 pm ET by rez
Sounds like they've swarmed. Either an existing hive got restless or a hive split and a new queen took her followers with her.
In theory a bee keeper could come in and capture the queen, and then let the followers cluster around her and cart the whole sheebang off. But he would have to be able to get TO the queen in order to capture her. I don't see how he'd be able to short of tearing up the wall.
So you're probably left with trying to kill 'em. And as Doud said, the sooner you get it done the better.
jt8
"One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency." -- Arnold H. Glasgow
Honey bees for sure? Not wasps?
New bird in the yard. Common Yellowthroat (male). Still waiting for the Giant Red-Eyed Bugs. Apparently, they don't want to show too soon. Breathlessly waiting for 22 MAY!!
If you don't want to save the hive then get your shop vac, set the end of the nozzle near the opening they are coming and going from and turn it on. Sadly, this will kill the little critters as they fly out or return but it will clear the air and you can get back to work. This works better for wasps because they all fly and return and eventually you will suck up the whole nest whereas bees have specific jobs, some that do not require leaving the hive. - r
The bee-in begone! Noticed a few bees hovering at the eves this morning and since then none. Must have been an exploratory swarm as rez mentioned, or they got bad vibes from us all. Counted three dozen dead bees in the attic at the french door. The bees were getting in at the eaves 20' up, and since our victorian has a floating roof, it's impossible to seal off the wall cavities. Thanks to all for the advice!
Lucked out? Maybe.
But keep yer eye on them as they could return with the clan.
In that event and they are indeed honeybees, it be best not to kill them as the population is already quite devastated of late.
Contact a beekeeper if they return.
The ice in the pond was not yet dissolved, though there were some open spaces, and it was all dark-colored and saturated with water. There were some slight flurries of snow during the days that I worked there; but for the most part when I came out on to the railroad, on my way home, its yellow sand heap stretched away gleaming in the hazy atmosphere, and the rails shone in the spring sun, and I heard the lark and pewee and other birds already come to commence another year with us. -Thoreau's Walden
Edited 5/23/2007 12:27 am ET by rez
One thing I've noticed it the past is bee's seem to hate cedar. I had a shed that would always have lots of bees setting up house, mostly wasps, yellow jackets, etc. Just on a whim I cut a bunch of cedar pieces from 1x6's and put them around here and there. After that, I never had any bees at all.
Regarding "cedar" are you referring to eastern red cedar (actually a juniper) or western red cedar?
I would suspect eastrn red??
Cal
However, the large looking 'similar to a bumblebee' carpenter bee can still be known drill his hole directly into a southern exposed board of red cedar tho' not as often as other species of wood, pressuretreated CCA and ACQ included.
be they show no mercy
Before I had done I was more the friend than the foe of the pine tree, though I had cut down some of them, having become better acquainted with it. Sometimes a rambler in the wood was attracted by the sound of my axe, and we chatted pleasantly over the chips which I had made.
-Thoreau's Walden
Edited 5/28/2007 9:47 am ET by rez
And what a perfect 3/8ths diameter it is too.Bee not 7/16ths, nor 23/64ths , bee decimal, when decimating fascia at .375 on the wreckter scale.Parolee # 40835
And looking up from a distance one still holds hope that that hole is merely a fallen knothole and not the gasp in fallen aspiration that it is certainly that which one fears in realizing that another chapter in the secret wars has begun again.Before I had done I was more the friend than the foe of the pine tree, though I had cut down some of them, having become better acquainted with it. Sometimes a rambler in the wood was attracted by the sound of my axe, and we chatted pleasantly over the chips which I had made. -Thoreau's Walden
I know ya meant Beegun again right?
Oh man..I messed up this computer something fierce..I got colors, but not font adjustment...looks like a wysiwyg is in my to do pile..
It is a really good idea to not try to kill them carpy bees..it'll make ya crazy...my dog snaps them outta the air, with impunity..they don't ever sting, and look really cool in a Mai-Tai with a red skewer though the Abdomen..I tried the umberella trick, but the little bastid parachuted to saftey lika hang glider on a good uplift...ya shoulda heard the wings.Parolee # 40835
Seeing the spring arrival of the notorious critters and the ensuing waste of man hours that are given over combating the onslaught of those little precious uglies,maybe, just maybe now, I'm saying perhaps you understand, meaning there is just the minor debate coming forth, so I'm saying just maybe there is a chance, albeit a small one, saying a remote possibility, that too a small one, that that possibility exists that there is a potential realization that in and under the right circumstances, which are in all probability approaching nil, even so given that fact, there is an inkling of thought dictating that despite all claims common in the con conversations regarding the subject, a small iota of potential positive spin which might sway favor to the camp of "it's not all, as in ALL, sh!d" and lend credence to the acceptability of the line of reasoning that occasionally presents itself among the general populace that there may be, as in maybe, a constructive as in a positive building material use, for for...man, I have to say this... for...coughcough...vinyl siding. Before I had done I was more the friend than the foe of the pine tree, though I had cut down some of them, having become better acquainted with it. Sometimes a rambler in the wood was attracted by the sound of my axe, and we chatted pleasantly over the chips which I had made. -Thoreau's Walden
You do realize that you posted two posts that contained two "that that " in succession ? Right?
Be whats up wid that?Parolee # 40835
and that ain't hay!
be hey!
Before I had done I was more the friend than the foe of the pine tree, though I had cut down some of them, having become better acquainted with it. Sometimes a rambler in the wood was attracted by the sound of my axe, and we chatted pleasantly over the chips which I had made. -Thoreau's Walden
Edited 5/28/2007 12:56 pm ET by rez
True, but that makes the holes easy to repair.
3/8" plug cutter, matching wood and away you go!
Jim
Never underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.
I've noticed bits of sawdust on my deck and sometimes fluttering down for the past few years. Never gave it much thought until this weekend when I looked up and finally saw where the sawdust is coming from. There was a 3/8" hole in the PT 2x10 over my deck. Looking around I found 5 more holes, some older than others. I pulled myself up and found a wee little bee in the hole. I backed off and took a picture of one of them flying around.We've seen the bees around for years, but I'd never heard of carpenter bees, so I didn't know to look for the holes. We've decided to let them bee as they are harmless and don't seem to cause structural problems :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpenter_bees
You can tell the carpenter bees ( Apian gunnadrillus) from Regular Bumble bees ( Beezuschristo Wassatthingus) cuz the carpenter bees wear little itty bitty tool belts. They also take thier hammer and saw..Parolee # 40835
saw ,
had a customer with the same problem.
Had to exterminate and open the wall.Bit of a mess.
Vince Carbone
Maybe they were attracted to the wallpaper ;o)
Jeff
I was talking to an architect about his plans for renovating the house next door when we noticed bees flying in and out of a gap in the fascia/watertable. They recently pulled off all the shingles exposing numerous openings. No one living in that house now, so the bees must find it more hospitable. I'll be sealing all gaps in my house before next spring!