We came home yesterday and there were a small number of bees (8-10) in our spare bedroom. Most were dead but a couple on the window were still alive. The room had been closed up, with windows and doors all closed. Chucked them out and no more had appeared this morning, but we went out for a couple of hours and on return, there were about six more. Where would they come from! I thought we might have a nest above the sarked ceiling and they could have been coming in through a knot hole somewhere, but can't see anything. I have looked all around the outside of the house to see if I can see bees coming and going from anywhere, but nothing apart from the odd bee on flowers etc. Any ideas!
junie2,
Dec 18, 2:32pm
There's got to be a hole somewhere !
the-lada-dude,
Dec 18, 3:39pm
just BEE carefull
jenny188,
Dec 18, 6:05pm
question. Whats killing them! Regular honey bees or the darker native variety! May be harder to get rid of than you think. If there is a small nest in wall or hollow structure the "honey" there keeps attracting more bees. Do you know an apiarist in your area! Just killing them might not be the end of the problem. Have seen whole walls stripped out and after no bees , on a hot day, the sweet smell and new bees.
rpvr,
Dec 19, 7:39am
I know what's killing them.we have a Robocan insect spray above the stairwell which drifts into both of the upstairs bedrooms, which was put there because we had ants in the sarked ceiling. However, no more bees since yesterday so I'm hoping it was a chance event. They are the lighter coloured variety.
iamgod1too,
Dec 19, 8:53am
To BEE or not to BEE. That is the Question
aredwood,
Dec 19, 7:22pm
Do you have downlights! If so then check in the ceiling.
urbanrefugee54,
Dec 21, 7:11pm
as above - 'bee' very careful - there could be a hive in your roof!
kaddiew,
Dec 24, 8:55pm
I've just discovered what could be the same bees coming out of a 1 inch hole in the exterior brick wall of the house, outside the toilet.Couldn't figure out what the hum/buzz was I could hear from inside. Sounds like there could be a huge number of them. They look like minature bumble bees.
Any idea how I can tackle this myself! Thanks!
kaddiew,
Dec 24, 9:23pm
Just reread poster #1 - not the same bees; theirs are light coloured, these are dark.
regy_2005,
Dec 25, 8:29pm
I ll BEE damed
echoriath,
Dec 25, 8:47pm
Are they bumble bees or honeybees! Either something inside is drawing them in, or there's a nest in the wall. If there's a nest in the wall, a lot will depend on what type they are. If bumble bees, you may be able to capture them and move the nest elsewhere. If they are honeybees, you may have bigger issues.
With bumble bees, there are usually only number a couple hundred at most. They're quite good for the garden, so if you can provide them with a place that works for both of you, it's a win-win situation.
Here's a handy page written about NZ and bumble bees:
It includes info on how to create a nest for them. That will basically mean getting a small box and luring them to nest in it with a bit of sugar and making the box more appealing than where they are now. Leave the box in the room.
I've not worked with bumble bees, really, but with honey bees they have what are called "one-way" boards. If the bumble bees won't nest in the box, you might have to make the box one-way, meaning they are able to get into it, but not get out. This is done by putting little bits of metal inside that allow them to enter but not get back out past the metal bits.
Don't know if that makes sense, but if you search "one-way bee boards" you'll see what I mean.
rpvr,
Dec 26, 5:47am
As the original poster just popped back to say my problem seems to have solved itself - no more bees. But it's still strange where they came from in the first place.
kaddiew,
Dec 26, 6:39am
echoriath wrote: Are they bumble bees or honeybees!
Glad your problem's solved, poster #1.
Echoriath - Thank you, I'll look that up. Mine are bumble bees, and from the background hum you can hear through the wall from inside the house, I'd say there are loads of them. They don't appear in the house itself, so are hopefully confined to the wall cavity. Entry point is small hole drilled into brick exterior outside the toliet room, and looking into the hole with a torch, you can't see them but they appear to be going through (or nesting in) the pink batt insulation. Adults & small ones coming and going and have seen wriggly white larvae.
I blocked the hole for an hour to see what would happen and I had about a dozen very angry adults trying to get in. My worry is, after reading up a bit on them which says the nest is only used for one season, is even if that's the case how big is the nest left behind, will it rot inside the wall, and how it can be removed wihout carving up the loo wall inside. From the sound, the nest seems to be directly behind the toilet cistern.
Oh dear.Any advice would be very much appreciated.
tallpines,
Dec 26, 6:55am
Hi, I am a commercial beekeeper (15 years experience) getting unwanted honey bees, wasps and bumble bees out of small spaces like walls of houses and ceilings etc can be very difficult indeed. The main thing that needs doing is get rid of the nest or they keep coming back.My suggestion is, contact your local beekeeper or you can email me and I will explain on what you can use and how to use it to get rid of them safely! As for the one-way boards (normally called escape) will not work in this situation as they are used to escape the bees back into the hive from the honey boxes before they are extracted.
See if you can pump some carbril (not sure how to spell it) powder into and around the hole. Bees entering the wall cavity will carry it into the nest and presto all gone. As honey bees are becoming a raraty I usually wouldn't even suggest getting rid of them but when in your wall al ceiling then something has to be done. Do the same for wasps.
kaddiew,
Dec 26, 2:37pm
I must day a big thanks to tallpines who took time out to talk to me on the phone, and explain the options. Much appreciated!
Eurika - thanks for the suggestion, which is one of the options tallpines gave me. I'm reluctant to kill bumble bees (theyre not honey bees) unless I absolutely have to - but yes it is a concern inside the wall. Weighing it up atm.
junie2,
Dec 26, 4:21pm
Bumble bees in the walls are not the problem that honey bees are. They are much fewer in number to begin with and stop operating when the cold weather starts. That's when you bung up the hole.Tthere's no honey in there and they won't be able to get back in the same place next year. Or - you can encourage them to analternative spot by putting some old sheepskin in a cardboard box near the hole in the wall - then shift it to a dry place when they've moved in, then bung up the hole. Bumble bees are a great nature lesson for kids. We have three nests this year.
kaddiew,
Dec 26, 4:43pm
Thanks junie2. I don't think I can bung up the hole as it appears to be some sort of drilled toilet vent (I could be wrong), but guess i could put fine mesh over it. The sheepskin in a box idea is interesting. Would I need sugar in there as poster 12 suggested; if so in what form!
junie2,
Dec 26, 8:43pm
I've never used sugar, kaddiew. I'm no experton bumble bees ( although we have kept a honey bee hive for more than 30 yrs( about 8 ft from the back door!) ) but they seem to be very easy to 'manage'. Sometimes they nest in the wood shed or under sacks of mulch or manure, but if I provide them with sheepskin in a biscuit box or tin, they're happy to move. Then Ijust move them a foot or so maybe twice a day, to where I want them.We like them in the garden so just look after them for interest's sake. None of us have been stung - they're quite placid creatures it seems.
echoriath,
Dec 26, 10:31pm
Bumble bees are also less of an issue than honey bees because they tend to shift nests with the seasons and new queens, but as others have mentioned, once a spot has been a good spot for a hive, it may draw other similar critters (wasps, honey bees or more bumble bees) in future. The mesh may be the way to go. Actually, maybe you could rig two pieces of screen to lap each other in a way that lets the bees out, but not back in.
The up side of this is forcing them to look elsewhere for a home, however, tallpines alluded to the underlying issue: keeping bees out of the hive (and maybe into a nearby box) won't make the queen leave, and you need to get the queen out. I don't know if bumblebees will create a new queen if they take up in the box, and honey bees generally won't if the queen dies somehow. For honeybees, the queen normally creates new queens. And even if the bumble bees do start anew in the box, you may have simply created a second hive.
Still, at least then you could choose where they go, and maybe in future years more would find the box and go there. The sugar is just an added bonus to draw them into the box. It's not necessary, but it sweetens the deal for them. You can just put sugar in there, or you could make a sugar syrup (2 parts sugar to one part water) in a small jar. Put some twigs in it so they don't drown.
BTW, good on you for NOT reaching for insecticide as the first choice. It's good to see people realising that we can coexist with the critters we rely on for pollination, amongst other things. You'll generally find that the person that swings wildly at nearby bees gets stung, whereas the person who stays still does not.
I don't necessarily wear my suit when I open my hives, and I don't use a smoker. Calm, measured movements and avoiding bee fatalities are the secrets to not getting stung. Mind you, the occasional sting is good therapy for arthritis.
aredwood,
Dec 26, 10:41pm
Thanks for the interesting thread. It reminded me that I had a paper wasp nest that needed to be killed. Just finished zapping it with the fly spray.
echoriath,
Dec 27, 3:40pm
Well, that's one critter no beekeeper will complain about you killing. Wasps are honey thieves, though I believe they are also pollinators. Make sure and bog up their entrance/exit. I found a wasp nest in a soffit that was about 40 cm in diameter by 20 cm in height. It was abandoned, but an empty nest may invite future infestation.
red2,
Dec 27, 4:05pm
Sure they were not Mason Bees !
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