How can you get rid of bees in the walls of your house?

[QM]

I was checking my window well about 1/2 an hour ago and noticed in the top right corner bees were going in and out...mostly in. The beehive (which there most likely is one) is in the wall of my house.

What should I do to get rid of them and make sure this problem doesn't continue? Thanks in advance.

[Contrary Housewife]

Call an exterminator. Then seal the hole with exterior caulking. You may not have bees, you may have wasps.

[Mummy2]

Hi!
I work for a Pest Control Company down here, we get alot of bee calls right now.

If you have them making a hive in the wall you should call an expert to come, they will kill the bees and you may have to take down one side of the wall to clean out the hive, or, if your near an Ag college or know some one who has hives they may be able to move the bees for you to a safer location.

Do it soon before the next full moon bees get mad during a full moon.

BTW- I'm from Toronto & Family still lives up there!

[CrazyCat]

Yes...call an exterminator.

sometimes you just have to call in professionals.

[savvy_sniper]

IF they are honey bees, you should call a beekeeper. They can remove the queen and probably will GIVE you all the honey. This happened to my brother several years ago. He got some great honey! Most likely part of the wall will have to be removed.

Be very careful IN CASE they are Africanized honey bees. If they get stirred up, they are dangerous.

Hopefully you can tell if they are honey bees, wasps, carpenter bees, etc.

[pinetree]

We have ads here on craigs list for beekeepers looking for hives, they will come get them for free and even give you some of the honey.

With the problems with the bees dying off right now I don't think you want to kill them off. Call your extension office or local nursery to see if they know of someone or put an ad on craigs list for a bee keeper.

[QM]

OK...I've done a little research.

I phoned a beekeeper and found out what to do if it's honey bees. They have to cut a hole in the wall to remove the hive, capture the queen bee and wait about 24 hours for all the other bees to find the queen bee (that they would put in a box outside the house). They said NOT to have an exterminator to poison them because then the bees and hive will rot and stink the house. He said that it's like leaving a few dead chickens outside your house for days.

I also phoned an exterminator. He said to e-mail him a picture of the insect so he can know what he's dealing with. I took a few pictures, e-mailed it and phoned him back. He said that the insect is definitely not a honey bee, but most like some kind of bumble bee. He said the pictures weren't the clearest so he'll have another guy that works there look at the pictures as well. Regardless, he said to remove the bumble bees they put ficam dust in the hole. When the bees walk over this dust it poisons them and kills them.

My dad said that if it's bumble bees just to get a can of "Bee/Hornet Raid", put the long straw attachment on it and shoot the entire can into the hole. Then he said to caulk the hole to prevent future bees from entering.

So...what would you do from here? Buy a can of Raid or go the exterminator root (which costs about $100)?

[savvy_sniper]

I would buy the Raid, spray at the coolest time of day (bees will be at their slowest at the coolest time of day) AND RUN LIKE HECK!

[YankeeMom]

Definitely call a pest control company. We had a similar problem last year. Thankfully they weren't honeybees but regular yellow jackets. The bees don't stink up the house. I've never heard of dead bees smelling lol.

[frugalwarrior]

Smelling up the house?? I never heard of that one. Last year I killed a hive of bald faced hornets but they weren't in the house. I would pay for an exterminator.

[frugalfranny]

I would try the can/cans of spray first if you are sure they are not honey bees and I doubt that they are. Have multiple cans when you do it though.
I fight wasps here all summer. Have already taken down no less than 8 nests, and so far all small ones, about the size of a golf ball. At the start of every summer I buy two cans of the spray and make sure that they say they will spray at a minimum of 20 feet. I have found them in my dryer vent, arbovitae, anywhere up along the eaves of my house, and they like a bird shelter that I have, plus my basement window wells. My house is brick and it just seems to attract them.....UGH!

If they are only going into a small area you could do what your dad said and it would probably take care of it. I would sure try the cheaper way first.

If I can help in any other way........like moral support.......drop a note. The first time you do it is the scariest. Shake the can well and once you start the spray don't stop just because you see a bee.

Let us know what you decide to do.......and good luck.

[Sassyclass]

My ex was an exterminator. If they are not bees and are yellow jackets, do me a favor and kill the little beasts!!! A bee can only sting you once and then it dies, but a member of the wasp family(yellow jackets, hornets, and wasps), can and will sting multiple times and go on to sting someone else. Honey bees are dying out so don't let anyone kill them if they are honey bees. Even bumble bees are worth saving, they are helpful little pollenators too. I know wasps are helpful too, but they are aggressive and down right onry critters. A bee you almost have to step on it or lay your hand on it before it will sting but a wasp you never know what they will do. Good luck.

Cat

[pop goes the weasel]

I had hornets in my bedroom waal. I found where they were coming in and out, sprayed raid in the hole and plugged it. Within an hour there was no buzzing and haven't had a problem since.