HELP! Bees in house wall

[Willow]

For the last few nights as I lay in bed I can hear little scratching noises in one of the walls in the bedroom. At first I thought it was an electrical short but when I checked in the middle of the night there are no electrical wires in that wall. This morning I went outside and checked. .....and there they were! Dozens of bees flying in and out of a tiny space between the siding and the roof. I have a feeling there are hundreds of bees in the wall as the traffic in and out of the hive was constant and heavy.

Now what. How do I get rid of them and do I really have to get rid of them? I think they are yellow jackets but I don't know how to tell. Small yellow bees with little black stripes. I would rather not kill them all but have no idea how to get them to leave without spraying.

I have a container garden on the deck below the hive and I suspect they are a welcome addition to the garden in the summer....but what will they do to the wall? Can I just leave them there?

Any advice would be so very much appreciated! Ask me a dog question and I can usually answer it but I don't know a darn thing about bees except they sting when they get angry!

Willow

 

[booger]

Yellow jackets are a kind of wasp thing, aren't they? But it sounds like you're talking about bees.

I've not experienced this (thank goodness!) but I've read of just this thing happening. If I remember right, the main suggestion was to call a local beekeeper to come retrieve them for you. He gets free bees and you get your house back.

 

[yellowsprings]

If the bees are in the wall, the beekeeper will not be able to retrieve them without taking out part of the wall. He needs to get to the queen for the rest to leave. You need to call a professional pest remover! There will be thousands of bees in there if they are regular "honey bees" and your wall cavities will be filled with combs of honey. This will eventually ruin your wall.

I am a beekeeper and this is the smartest, safest way to remove them.

 

[Walrus Whisperer]

Bees are fuzzy, Hornets/wasps are not.

 

[Gingergirl]

May be yellow jackets. They will build nests in the void areas of a wall. They especially like sunny or south facing walls. I've noticed around here that in late summer/early fall they go into a nest building frenzy...prep for winter.

http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/yellowjackets.htm

Bees look too round and fat to be able to fly while the yellow jackets are long and slender.

 

[Willow]

May be yellow jackets. They will build nests in the void areas of a wall. They especially like sunny or south facing walls. I've noticed around here that in late summer/early fall they go into a nest building frenzy...prep for winter.

http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/yellowjackets.htm

Bees look too round and fat to be able to fly while the yellow jackets are long and slender.

This is a sunny south facing wall. Also, they are long and slender. Must be yellow jackets. What will happen if I just let them live there? I have no desire to have them find their way into the house but if there is a way to live with them and not risk getting seriously stung I am willing to do that.

Willow.

 

[Gingergirl]

Willow, it is a dilema. The yellow jackets do pollinize some trees (maybe flowers). But their sting is unpleasant! We have had them enter the house as a swarm...scary moment. Personally, I would call Pest Control to remove them.

 

[Kathy in WV]

Willow,

Please rethink letting them stay there.I have been in your shoes and it can be extremely painful! Yellow Jackets sometimes get really agressive and will swarm out on you for invading "their " territory. It's really a dangerous situation at best. They will go after you, your pets, any kids, and even meter readers coming to your house. I wouldn't want to be responsible for someone who's allergic possibly stumbling into a mess of angry hornets or jackets. We had them in the front of our house and before my husband got around to killing them they got aggressive and attacked us that same evening as we came to the door carrying groceries and our baby. I'm surprised they didn't get us sooner! Maybe you would enjoy keeping tame honey bees? I'd love to have some but have no place safe enough to keep them. I'm sorry to be so negative but I'm convinced by experience that its dangerous for you!! Good luck whatever you decide and be careful!!

 

[Willow]

OK...I'm convinced....

I will be calling someone today. I did get stung this summer by one little rascal and it sure did hurt. Getting attacked by this hive is NOT a pleasant thought and I can't help but wonder what they would do if they found their way into the house.

Thanks everyone.....!!!!!!!!!

Willow

 

[JR in Ind]

Yes, please look into having them removed. When I was 11, I ran a lawnmower over a yellowjacket nest in the ground. If you accidently make them mad, they will swarm you and attack. I was stung over 10 times and anyone who was outside in the yard was stung numerously. Even my dog...I remember looking down to see him crying, he was covered with them.

It would be safer for you and your family to have them removed!



Jodi

 

[Kathy in WV]

Hi Willlow,
Just checking on you!! Did you find someone to remove them yet? I was so glad to read that you'd decided to get them out of there. In the mean time maybe you should get a few cans of wasp spray and keep them handy for emergencies. After I posted yesterday I remembered my Father in Law telling me about the time his neighbor called in hysterics because her house was swarming on the inside living room wall. The hornets got into the outside wall and ate their way through insulation and panelling right intro the living room. They had to spray inside that wall and then after most of them were dead they took down the panneling to get the rest. They ALL got stung that day! Let us know whats happening there!!!! Kathy

 

[Willow]

You guys are just great.....

and the bug guy was here today and killed the yellow jackets. While he was here I had him do the cellar bugs too. Mostly extremely large spiders!!!! Certainly not the life threatening issue that the bees were but just the thought of one of those things crawling on me in the middle of the night gives me the creeps. They are starting to migrate upstairs as the weather is getting chilly at night.

For what it's worth...the bug guy felt that leaving the bees 'in peace' was dangerous and after all the posts here plus his comments I was confident that I was doing the right thing.

I wanted a neighbor girl to come over and remove burdocks from the Mini Horse manes and tails and she didn't dare because there were dozens of yellow jackets in the small shed about 100 feet from the house. The same side of the house that the bedroom wall nest was on. Very scary.

I still wish there was a way to let them live but doing that put everyone.. ..two legged and four legged .....in danger.

Willow