Bee's nest help

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Jim

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I have a bee's nest in my ceiling above my head in the basement. I have a drop ceiling. That being said, the nest is the size of 1.5 basketballs (or bigger) as far as I can tell.

It's winter here in Massachusetts. Are the bees in the hive hibernating? How do I get rid of this? As an FYI, towards the end of fall, I must have dispatched over 300 bees in my house.

What should I do here? :LOL2:
 
It it were me ... I'd call a Pro! You might get it out ... but you also need to prevent it from happening again ...

Are you suffering from a bee infestation inside your home? If so, you’ve probably realized that you need a professional bee removal service to take care of the problem. It’s important to always call an experienced bee removal company in these situations to ensure that your bee infestation fully dissolves, and no harm and danger will come upon you and your loved ones. A bee removal service inside the home can be tricky, so here’s what to expect from your bee removal service.

-Determine the exact location of the colony of bees.
-Create a way to prevent the bees from traveling to other places of the home.
-Carefully remove clear objects and remove drywall/panels to access the bees.
-Remove the bees (live) and their honeycomb/hive.
-Implement bee proofing to prevent bees from accessing the area in the future.
-Replace drywall/panels.
-Transfer and relocate bees safely.

If you’re not experienced with beekeeping or how to remove a hive, always call a professional. It’s not worth the risk to worsen a situation with bees, especially in your home.
 
DaleH said:
It it were me ... I'd call a Pro! You might get it out ... but you also need to prevent it from happening again ...

If you’re not experienced with beekeeping or how to remove a hive, always call a professional. It’s not worth the risk to worsen a situation with bees, especially in your home.[/color][/i]

Seriously - I'm with Dale. Even though I do a lot around the house myself - ridding the house of insect-pests of any type is best left to the pros. They know not only how to do it safely, but also how to prevent recurrences.
 
First, Jim, what kind of bees are they?

Honeybees, hornets, or paper wasps?
Can you post a pic of the nest? (Take it under cover of darkness....thier low light sight capability is horrible.)

I ask, because research I've done on paper wasps says the workers die over winter. Even then, the queen has to find somewhere relatively warm to hole up in order to survive. Then, she has to start over, building a new nest, laying eggs that hatch in 6-8 weeks, in order for those new workers to take over nest building duties.
I can't speak to hornets, but it seems reasonable that they, too, would have difficulties moving around in cold weather.

My dentist and his wife raise honeybees, and they do hibernate by crowding together, surrounding the queen to ensure her survival. Even then, they lose a bunch of drones and workers to the cold. If it is a honeybee nest, try contacting either an exterminator, or better, a honeybee organization. I'm sure there's a few bee ranchers that would love to get a free hive.

I know that if you want to slow them down to almost a dead stop, hit them with a CO2 fire extinguisher. The cold liquid does the job, and gives you a few minutes to wreak havock upon thier "empire".

I've done this research because paper wasps were my biggest fear as a child. As I grew older, and wound up with my own home and outbuilding(s), I decided that this was MY domain, and I wouldn't allow them to chase me away.
I've learned about thier lack of low-light vision, noticed that most of thier nest building is on the south side, where it gets heated by the sun earlier. (There are exceptions.) And I use that knowledge to my advantage. Extermination duties are relegated to nightfall with a flashlight and wasp spray. A red-lensed flashlight is even better. Let's you see them without hurting your low-light vision.

Roger
 
I will concede a good point from Dale, though. Find out where they're getting in. DO NOT close it off until they're dead!

Roger
 
13b1679ab220260b9a339c473548476b.jpeg

01cb1f7343675bcf5c0c531bcd654c8c.jpeg

Ok, maybe bigger than a couple of basketballs. LOL!
 
Where's the honey!
No expert, but that doesn't look like a bee's nest to me, more like wasps or hornets.
If they aren't bees, I would spray the crap out of it with wasp and hornet spray, then try to find out where they are entering and seal it off. I use the wasp and hornet spray on similar nest's and it effectively eliminates them.
If they are honeybees, a local beekeeper might remove them for you just for the bees.
 
THAT is very typical of the bald-faced hornet. The design of the nest makes it quite difficult for the layman to get anywhere with eliminating them. There's a network of tunnels and egg chambers inside that outer wrapping, and that outer wrapping protects the rest of the hive quite well.
I'll side with others, now. A professional exterminator would be much better equipped to deal with this problem.

You could help out a little, by seeing if you can locate the entry/exit point on your house. Might be a bit difficult, being as it's winter, and they're probably not coming and going right now.

BTW; That copper pipe is not your incoming water line is it? The way they've built around it where it goes through that wall suggests that it's thier entry/exit point. (Just my observation.)

Roger
 
In our town there are guys that keep bees. Called apiarists (I guess). They ask that instead of killing off the hive we give them a call. They come and relocate it. No charge as far as I know. They may even be doing it as a hobby. Might check locally. I find Nextdoor.com to be a good source for that kind of stuff.

Wasps or hornets, I have no idea.
 
LDUBS said:
In our town there are guys that keep bees. Called apiarists (I guess). They ask that instead of killing off the hive we give them a call. They come and relocate it. No charge as far as I know. They may even be doing it as a hobby. Might check locally. I find Nextdoor.com to be a good source for that kind of stuff.

Ya - if it's bees, getting an apiarist to move them is the best bet.

LDUBS said:
Wasps or hornets, I have no idea.

Wasps and hornets - only one answer.
tenor.gif
 
those are hornets! they will put you in a hospital, or a coffin. they dont move when its really cold, but DO NOT puncture the nest. i have seen a nest moved from a tree limb. the guy took a big leaf bag and pulled it over the nest and then sealed the end aound the limb. then he cut the limb. he then threw it in his burn barrel and set it on fire.
my fear would be that if you try and move that one, it may tear away from the pipe, and you would instantly look like sugar ray had given you a boxing lesson.
i would get a pro.
 
From my direct experience with hornets, some leave you alone once you leave their nest area ... while others TRACK you down and keep biting! I got nailed once by stepping on or into a ground next of bald face hornets and I ran a good 100-yards before they stopped attacking! Thankfully I wasn't allergic, but they sure hurt! Ended up covered in ammonia to take the sting out ...

Makes me wish I had a flame thrower!
 
poorthang said:
those are hornets! they will put you in a hospital, or a coffin. they dont move when its really cold, but DO NOT puncture the nest. i have seen a nest moved from a tree limb. the guy took a big leaf bag and pulled it over the nest and then sealed the end aound the limb. then he cut the limb. he then threw it in his burn barrel and set it on fire.
my fear would be that if you try and move that one, it may tear away from the pipe, and you would instantly look like sugar ray had given you a boxing lesson.
i would get a pro.


"but DO NOT puncture the nest"

I agree. That is when it is lucky to have a teenager around. Just tell em, don't poke the nest, then sit back and watch the fun.
 
i was that teenager once. except i didnt poke the nest, i shot it. about 200 yds out so it would be safe! nope, a small black dot left the nest and got bigger and bigger as it came straight toward me. i realized the small dot was a ball of hornets moving at a high speed and straight toward their target. i jumped in the truck, slammed the door, and they swarmed for a little while and returned to the tree. lol
 
poorthang said:
i was that teenager once. except i didnt poke the nest, i shot it. about 200 yds out so it would be safe! nope, a small black dot left the nest and got bigger and bigger as it came straight toward me. i realized the small dot was a ball of hornets moving at a high speed and straight toward their target. i jumped in the truck, slammed the door, and they swarmed for a little while and returned to the tree. lol
:LOL2:

I can literally picture this, it's movie material. :lol:
 

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