How To Remove Honey Bees From A House

The love bee, Apis mellifera (L.), is our most beneficial insect. Nosotros must do all we can to protect bee colonies which are pollinators for many of our home and commercially grown fruits and vegetables. The almanac contribution of honey bees to nutrient product in the United States is estimated to be $10 billion. Beloved bees are of import as master pollinators of almonds, apples, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupes, cranberries, cucumbers, forage crops, kiwi fruit, squash, and watermelons. Almanac cash receipts of South Carolina commercially grown apples, cantaloupes, cucumbers, and watermelons are estimated at $25 million.

In South Carolina, there are about 2,500 beekeepers who keep bees for pleasure and profit. They manage virtually 30,000 dearest bee colonies which produce 1.2 million pounds of surplus dearest annually in add-on to the pollination service which many people accept for granted.

As good citizens, nosotros should do everything possible to salvage honey bee colonies that get a trouble in structural walls, but there are many instances when this is not possible. If a local beekeeper cannot be found to take the bees, the property owner has every right to treat honey bees as pests, peculiarly when human health is threatened. Some basic knowledge of honey bees and their activities is necessary earlier attempting to remove love bee colonies from structures:

Dearest bees will defend themselves if threatened. Avoid disturbing a bee colony unless you lot are fully protected. If yous encounter bees that are flying and appear to be out of control, simply walk away slowly without swatting at the bees. Swatting the bees but irritates them more. If you detect yourself being attacked by defensive bees, encompass your caput with your shirt and run rapidly through dumbo vegetation or seek shelter in a vehicle or edifice.
The baby-sit or worker honey bees have a barbed stinger that is left behind in the victim. In the process of stinging, a dearest bee rips a portion of her abdomen away with the stinger and the bee dies soon. The stinger should be removed immediately from the victim to reduce the amount of venom entering the sting site. A preferred sting remedy is to place a mound of common table salt on the betoken of sting entry and dampen with water. By osmotic pressure, most of the venom will be withdrawn from the torso tissue if the treatment is applied within 3-four minutes following the stinging incident. When working exterior, it is advisable to carry small amounts of table salt such as the packets found at fast food restaurants.
Honey bee swarming season normally occurs in Southward Carolina during the months of May and June, although at that place are exceptions. This is the fourth dimension of year when swarms may enter the wall of structures and become a pest problem. A swarm will enter a void or cavity that averages well-nigh 10 gallons (40 liters) in size. Normally, honey bees favor a cavity entrance that faces southeast and is nigh i.5 inches (38 mm) in diameter.
A mature honey bee colony can range in population size of 20,000 to 100,000 bees depending on the season. The colony population will superlative from late spring to summer and reach a depression bespeak in wintertime.
A European honey bee colony will swarm commonly once a year whereas an Africanized colony will swarm several times annually. Swarms occur in spring during strong nectar flows when the colony population outgrows its living quarters. The old queen and near half the bees will emerge from the parent colony to find a new home. The parent colony has made preparations to replace the quondam queen prior to swarm emergence. When the swarm emerges, the bees volition cluster on a nearby tree limb or other object and remain there from an hour to sometimes xx-four hours. Picket bees are dispatched to search for a new habitation for the swarm while the queen and remaining bees await their return. The swarm will fly en masse to the new home described by the most convincing scout bee. The new abode may consist of a hollow in a tree, a vacant beehive, an abased water heater, a cavity in a wall of a structure, or any other void that meets the specifications of the scout bees.

Identification

If a property possessor suspects that a honey bee colony has entered the wall of a structure, he/she should endeavour to confirm the insects are indeed beloved bees. Other possible insects that might invade the wall of structures are carpenter bees, yellow jackets, or European hornets. Love bees vary in colour from yellowish to black, accept black or brown bands across the abdomen, and are much smaller than a carpenter bee. Honey bees are about ii/three of an inch long and the body is covered with setae or hair. The foraging honey bees will have pollen baskets on each hind leg which will exist often loaded with a ball of yellow or nighttime green pollen. The honey bee is the only stinging insect that can ordinarily overwinter as a colony inside the wall of a construction in South Carolina.

The carpenter bee can be identified past having bright yellow, orange or white hairs on the thorax and a blackness shiny belly on the dorsal side. Carpenter bees are robust, heavy bodied bees that range 3/4 to 1 inch in length. These insects bore half inch wide holes that appear to exist perfectly round on exterior wooden surfaces.

Yellow jackets lack the dense body hair that are institute on carpenter bees and dear bees. The foraging yellow jackets do non have the pollen baskets on the hind legs. The xanthous jacket is near .v inch long and the abdomen is characterized by having alternating yellowish and black bands. European hornets are much larger (1.v inches long) than honey bees and sometimes institute colonies inside structural walls.

Note: The property owner must showtime determine whether to seek out a professional to do the chore. Some beekeepers have much experience in honey bee removals and will remove the bees for a fee, but sometimes a carpenter will be needed to help in reconstructing the wall. If y'all practice not know a local beekeeper, yous should call your Clemson Academy Cooperative Extension Role which may have a listing of local beekeepers. Besides, some pest command companies take employees who are trained in bee removal.

Removal From Walls

The honey bee colony should be salvaged alive if possible, just sometimes this non applied. Beloved bee swarms that have recently entered the wall of a structure say for a 24-hour interval or and then tin can often exist exterminated by injecting a pesticide recommended for bee control into the crenel. The bees should non accept had time to construct a significant amount of comb, produce much brood, or store much honey unless a very strong nectar flow is in progress. Remember that if the bees take stored much honey in the wall and you kill the colony with a pesticide, the honey will exist contaminated with the pesticide. Foraging bees from another nearby managed or feral bee colony will be attracted to the dear in the wall and may cause other unnecessary colony demise. To avert this problem, caulk or place window screening on all potential entrances to the wall cavity such as knot holes and cracks in siding. This will prevent another swarm from inbound the same cavity the next swarm season, too. A foul aroma is to be expected for several weeks in the vicinity of the decaying bees if removal is not conducted.

Once the bees take setup housekeeping for more than a few days, the task often becomes more difficult. Sometimes, much comb (beeswax), brood, and honey are stored in the wall of a construction. Merely injecting a pesticide in the wall to kill the bees and leaving is risky. The rummage will attract wax moths and mice for nesting sites. The honey will attract ants and other insects and may ooze through the wall or ceiling when comb melts during hot weather causing extensive damage.

A term called "neutralization" is necessary to get the job done right and avoid problems down the road. Neutralization involves the complete physical removal of all bees (expressionless or alive), comb, and honey from the wall following extermination to prevent hereafter infestations. The removal procedure should exist scheduled when no humans or pets are in the immediate area. A good wash down of the cavity with soapy water is recommended to remove all odors of the previous colony. If possible, it is a good idea to leave the void area open up for a couple of weeks to let drying and dissipation of colony odors. Filling the void prior to wall closure with spray foam insulation or fiberglass batting will prevent the space from re-colonization.

Depending on the outside wall structure, the neutralization process may take to exist conducted inside the structure, although exterior wall removal is preferred in almost cases. The dimensions of the wall space occupied by the bee colony tin can usually exist investigated in late evening by careful heat and noise observations. A stethoscope is a handy device to have when inspecting the size of the colony. An outline of the colony tin be identified by advisedly listening for a drastic subtract in the buzzing sound created by the bees. A light tap on the wall surface with a screw commuter or hammer volition elevate the noise intensity.

A list of suggested equipment needed to salvage a bee colony alive from a structure wall is listed below:

Bee working supplies	Tools for structural piece of work
Veil	Ladders
Bee suit	Hammer and nails
Bee working gloves	Crow bar
Hive tool	Aluminum cutters
Smoker	Saw (skill + cord, hand, chain+fuel)
Smoker fuel	Can foil for sealing holes
Matches	Scaffold material for hive suspension
Hive body	Wire funnel
Screen hive archway sealer	Staple gun
Flashlight	Offset aid kit
Stethoscope	Fire extinguisher
Knife
Cut/framing tray
Wire or string
v gal. buckets w/covers
Bee brush
Dust pan
Soapy water
Bee vacuum
Sting kit or Epi-pen

Most of the equipment listed higher up can be purchased at hardware stores, but the specialty equipment for working around honey bees cannot be found locally in many areas of our state. At that place are a few local South Carolina beekeeping supply dealers that can exist found in the xanthous pages or you may ask a beekeeper for references. Two beekeeping supply mail order companies that will mail yous a gratuitous catalog are listed below:

Brushy Mountain Bee Farm
610 Bethany Church Rd.
Moravian Falls, NC.
Ph. 1-800-233-7929

The Walter T. Kelley Co. Inc.
3107 Elizabethtown Rd.
28654 P.O. Box 240
Clarkson, KY. 42726-0240
Ph. 502-242-2012

Removal of established bee colonies from structure walls tin be made more than pleasant by scheduling the job during the fourth dimension of year when bee populations are low, a minimum of stored dearest is nowadays and the bees are less defensive. Early spring before the nectar flows have begun is the best time of yr for bee removals in South Carolina. Another preferred time of twelvemonth is late fall or on a mild wintertime 24-hour interval.

Some other proposition for bee removal from a structural wall is to remove parts of the exterior wall and disrupt the colony during extremely cold temperatures. Honey bees cannot fly during freezing conditions and the bees will normally dice from exposure. The neutralization process can be completed much quicker during cold temperatures. Remember-- although bees might exist unable to wing in cold weather, they tin sometimes clamber and sting.

And so, you lot should observe the same safety precautions when working in common cold atmospheric condition.

Removal Past Trapping

Exterior stucco, brick, or cement walls brand normal removal impossible, especially if interior wall accessibility is not an option. Trapping bees out of the wall with a "1-way bee escape removal" is recommended if a property owner is not in a hurry to take the colony removed. The process volition take about ii-3 months and sometimes it is not successful unless careful attention to particular is followed. The comb will remain in the wall and will attract some other swarm in the hereafter unless preventive measures are taken.

The cone shaped 1-way bee escape is synthetic of window screen with the large end fastened over the primary bee entrance. Information technology is imperative that all other cracks or holes leading to the bee colony be sealed off or your efforts will exist unsuccessful. A hive body with a new queen bee inside is placed on the platform with the archway as close to the principal entrance as possible. Returning foraging bees will fly to the base of the cone shaped bee escape and will exist unable to reenter the wall. Eventually, the foraging bees will successfully proceeds entrance to the next hive. Periodic checks to make sure the bees take not gained entry into the wall are necessary. As the colony in the wall weakens, the colony in the hive body will strengthen at the expense of the parent colony. The queen in the parent colony volition not usually abandon her breed so a non-residual pesticide or CO2 should be injected into the wall to kill her and the remaining bees. Make sure the fumigant used does not exit a toxic residue. After a few days, the cone escape can be removed and the bees from the new hive will enter the wall and remove the remaining beloved. All possible entry sites must be sealed or plugged to prevent re-colonization by time to come swarms. Filling the void with an expanding foam blazon of insulation is highly recommended.

Unfortunately, this trapping process requires many visits to the site to finish the task. The comb left backside in the wall will be highly bonny to scout bees in the time to come , therefore the structure owner should make annual inspections of the wall and refill any cracks or holes leading to the cavity.

Safety Around Honey Bees. 1 percent of the human population is allergic to bee stings. These individuals should have every precaution to avoid bee stings considering one sting can be immediately life threatening. An available prescription sting kit is highly recommended for these individuals during outside activities.

WARNING: Honey bee removal from structures is not a job for a person who has never worked around stinging insects or even a novice beekeeper. Sometimes, this work is done while continuing on a ladder with hundreds of angry bees trying to protect their home. Bee removal tin be unnerving to even the experienced beekeeper and lead to accidents.

Prepared by William Michael Hood, Extension Entomologist/ Associate Professor, Department of Entomology, Soils, and Plant Sciences, Clemson University.

Providing Leadership in Environmental Entomology
^{Department of Entomology, Soils, and Plant Sciences, 114 Long Hall, Clemson, SC, 29634-0315, 864-656-3111}

This information is supplied with the agreement that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service is unsaid. Brand names of pesticides are given equally a convenience and are neither an endorsement nor guarantee of the production nor a proffer that like products are not effective. Utilise pesticides only according to the directions on the characterization. Follow all directions, precautions and restrictions that are listed. EIIS/AP-three (New 09/1998).