How to Remove Bees from House
Discovering bees living inside your home can be a frightening experience. However, it happens more often than you might think. Honey bees seek out quiet dark places to build their nest. The walls, attic or even basement of your house may be rather attractive to a bee family. In this post, you will learn how to recognize a bee infestation in your home and the steps to take for bee removal.
The natural behavior of honey bees leads them to build large nests containing thousands of colony members. As a beekeeper and bee-lover, even I don’t want them living in the walls of my home.
How You Know if You Have Bees in Your House
Every homeowner has experienced unwanted insects inside their home. Seeing a bee here and there does not mean that you have a bee colony in residence.
But, there are some key signs to look for:
- continuously finding honey bees in the windows attempting to get out (several each day)
- buzzing sounds
- honey stains on the wall
- a steady steam of bee traffic coming and going from areas outside the house
- strange smells
Bees Inside the House
Worker honey bees can get confused when exiting the nest area and end up inside your house. They will fly to bright windows and attempt to leave.
Seeing a couple of bees is no cause for alarm. However, seeing numerous bees each day requires a more thorough investigation.
Bee Sounds
Homeowners often hear a low buzzing or humming sound coming from ceilings, walls or chimneys. As the colony grows in population, the sounds will get louder.
If a gentle tap on the suspected area results in a louder buzz – that is not a good sign 🙂
Honey Stains
Over a longer period of time, honey stored in the comb can seep through the walls. It stains the surface and may even leak down the wall if the colony has been there for a long time.
Bee Traffic
During the warm months of the year, it is always a good idea to walk around the outside of your home. Look along the foundation and look up at the roofline and soffits for a steady stream of bee traffic.
If you see a constant stream of bees entering and exiting the same spot, this is likely a good indicator of a beehive in your house.
Pleasant or Foul Odors
A honey bee colony living in your walls may emit a sweet fragrance of honey and pollen. However, it is not always a pleasant odor.
If the colony suffers from disease resulting in large numbers of bee deaths, you may experience a foul stench inside the house.
Why Bee Removal Requires Professionals
Removing bees from a house is not as simple as it sounds. It may be tempting to try it on your own-but this is not a safe DIY project.
By involving professionals with bee experience, it may be possible to remove the colony without danger to the bees or the humans involved.
Safety First
Honey bees are not aggressive insects. But, bees will sting to defend their home. Yes, maybe it was your home first but the bees don’t see it that way.
Knowledgeable beekeepers use protective beekeeping clothing. This shields them from the majority of stings. They also know how to work with the bees to minimize agitation.
This is important for your family as well. Some people are allergic to bee stings and must be extra vigilant to avoid them. Others suffer from apiphobia (intense fear of bees) a calm removal is best for all.
Preserving the Bees
Thankfully, bees living inside a home can often be saved. Moving the colony is possible if the beekeeper can access the nest area.
This colony can rebuild in another hive or location and leave you with a bee-free inside environment.
The Process of Bee Removal
The process of removing the bee colony begins by identifying where the honey bees are entering your home. Once this is done, a beekeeper can make an estimation of where the nest is located.
There are 2 methods of bee removal:
- cut-outs
- trap-outs
Beekeeper Cutouts
Contact your local beekeepers association and you will likely find someone who does “cut-outs”. This will not be a free service.
Cutouts can be quite expensive as the person must have bee experience and carpentry know-how. Shop around for the best prices in your area.
After evaluating nest location, the beekeeper will remove enough siding or wood components to reach the nest of the bees. Then, the queen bee, workers and the comb and honey can be removed and placed into a new hive.
This process allows most of the colony to survive. It also removes left over comb, dead bee brood and other items that might smell bad as they decay inside your walls.
When hiring someone, have a clear understanding of exactly what the removal specialist is going to do for you.
Will they also replace any damage done to your home to access them? Most are able to repair the wall and have some carpentry skills but this needs to be discussed first.
The homeowner needs a full understanding of the job to be done and the cost. A written contract is a great idea.
Trap-outs
This option is more often used in a situation where the colony is not inside the living spaces of a home (walls, ceilings etc). Or perhaps, you have a colony living in a tree outside near a child play area that needs to be relocated.
The beekeeper will place an empty beehive right next to the opening used by bees to get in your house (or the tree). Then, a special funnel is placed on the hole in the house that allows bees to leave but not get back inside.
Unable to return to their home nest, foraging worker bees take up residence in the new hive. When most of the population is living in the new hive. The hole in the house (or tree) is plugged and any bees left inside will die.
This is a time-consuming project and does sacrifice part of the colony and resources. However, it is an alternative to killing the colony in a situation where the tree can not be cut down to remove the honey bees.
Bee Extermination
In some situations, it will be necessary to kill the colony. This should be a last ditch effort after all methods to relocate the bees have been exhausted.
This is not a perfect method – even for the homeowner. If you are successful in killing the insects, you still have the beeswax, honey and dead brood in your wall that may smell bad for a while.
However, sometimes there is not alternative. Seek out a professional exterminator to guide you through this process and explore all the options.
Recognize a Temporary Swarm
Honey bee swarming is a common occurrence – especially during the Spring time of year. You may see a mass of honey bees hanging in a nearby tree or bush.
Left alone, they will likely move on to a new home in a day or so. Keep children and pets away and they pose no danger. If they do not relocate, a local beekeeper will be happy to come get them.
Preventing Future Infestations
After removing honey bees from any wall or structure, do your part to prevent a future bee family from moving in. Plug holes in the exterior to reduce tempting entrances to interior cavities.
Educate yourself and learn about the differences between bees and wasps. Often, relocating their home is just not a good option – it may be a temporary problem you can leave for a short time.
Learn how to tell if you have a bee nest or a wasp nest, before calling for help. I can say with first-hand experience that most beekeepers will not remove a yellow jacket family from your home or yard. Yes, I have been asked to do it – no I did not.
FAQs
Many beekeepers will remove honey bee swarms from your property for free. If the swarm is easy to access, they will be glad to play the role of bee rescuer.
To permanently get rid of an established beehives, the bees must be killed or removed from the structure by a beekeeper.
Once a honey bee colony is established, it is very difficult to get them to leave. They have young inside.
While some scents (cinnamon, peppermint, etc) may discourage bees considering setting up a nest, the best way to remove the bees is to hire a beekeeper or exterminator.
Final Thoughts
Removing honey bees from a house can be done in a safe manner. However, it requires some skill and bee knowledge to do a good job. The good news is that in many cases the bees can be relocated to another home and continue with colony life.