04/15/2024
Time again for my recurring PSA. Honey Bee Swarm Season is in full swing. You DO NOT want bees making a nest in your walls, ceiling, soffit, etc.
Please examine your home, business, shed, ... and identify any openings 1/4" or larger. Plug or screen them. When honey bees swarm they are looking for a defensible opening with an area behind the opening about 5 gallons total volume. They love the eaves, walls, and ceilings of homes, chimneys, the space between floors, and under wood floors. They'll move into the walls of an RV, shed, etc.
If the hole is small, caulk or glue work well. If the hole is larger, or should not be closed (such as weep holes in brick), steel wool works well. For larger areas, screen works if secured well (1/8" hardware cloth is tougher and more rigid, but harder to find). Don't even think about using spray foam, even the "insect resistant" stuff. Honey Bees seem to hate foam, and will remove it just to get rid of it.
Honey bees can build a colony of 30,000 bees behind a 1/4" hole. Common weak points are failing caulk, failing mortar, where siding or soffit meet bricks or stone, around conduit or pipes, gaps in soffit or siding, and around light fixtures unless they fit tightly.
Bee colony removal from inside your building is likely to cost $400+, with $1,000+ possible, and that likely doesn't include repairs afterward. Insurance usually won't cover the removal and/or repairs, because the insurance considers it a "maintenance problem". (You didn't do the maintenance, so it is your problem).
If you see a swarm (typically bees in a cluster, hanging off of almost anything), call a beekeeper ASAP. DO NOT delay to see if they leave. (They will, but someone may not like where they go.) I'm a beekeeper, but there are many others in Central Oklahoma. Beekeeping Etc 405-600-7200 maintains a list, as does the OSBA at https://soonerbees.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=444951&module_id=448994
If you see bees checking out an opening of any size, but they are not regularly coming and going and especially if you see no pollen on their legs, (pollen looks like colorful English riding pants), PLUG THE HOLE NOW!!!! Scouts from a swarm investigate every nook and cranny. If they are scoping out your home (etc) blocking the hole will buy you time to do permanent repairs. However, if they are brining in pollen, you are too late, and will need someone to come remove them. You DO NOT want to kill a colony in your walls. First, killing a colony is not nearly as easy as you might imagine. Second, dead bees stink. Third, without the colony's protection, small hive beetle and wax moth larvae will run rampant through the comb. Small hive beetle larvae look like housefly larvae ("maggots"). Picture several hundred crawling through your walls leaving a fermenting slime trail, and then crawling out from your baseboards.
If you're not in Central Oklahoma, there are undoubtedly local beekeepers you can call upon. A search for beekeeper and your town name should help you find them.
As you've seen above, honey bees can become an expensive nuisance if they build a nest in inappropriate places. Let a beekeeper capture them and put them somewhere where they can prosper and not cause problems.
