The best price in Sydney, for bee and wasp
removal or eradication
same day service call now on 0423688352 or
bee experts and bee exterminator and We
remove bees from enclosed spaces or cavities such
as chimneys, electricity meter boxes, walls of houses,
roof spaces or similar inaccessible places. Bee swarms
extermination and hives on private land must be treated by the owner of the property, the bee removal is not an easy job. , the entrance to the nest site and other nearby holes should be sealed to prevent the entry of other swarms. Eradication should be done immediately by professional The treatment should be directed into the nest and not simply around the nest. and the best way to eradicate the bees is better to call us, Every year, beekeepers are called upon to give advice regarding the removal of honey bees from homes and buildings. Such advice is difficult to give because each case requires first hand information, and no two responses are alike. The following information is designed to give guidance about what needs to be done to accomplish honey bee nest removal and what considerations should be given when choosing a course of action. Often a swarm of bees will hang in a cluster before moving into their new home, remove the bee swarms as soon as possible. bee Removal of swarms It is easier to have a bee swarm cluster removed from your property before it moves to a permanent location, such as a wall cavity, where it will be more difficult and expensive to remove the bee. Do not attempt to remove a bee swarm yourself or bee extermination. A local beekeeper may be able to assist in dealing with a bee swarm. Beekeepers in if You Discover A bee Swarm Avoid the area and keep children and pets away from the bee swarm or colony. As a general rule, stay away from all honey bee swarms and colonies, some people are bee allergic and COULD BE FATAL the bee must be removal. Our bees removal service is 100% Money-Back Guarantee, bee exterminator, wasp exterminator
Most of Pest Control don't know how to handle bees,
we are professionals when it comes to identifying the problem, remove the bees
and removing bee hives. Bee Removal professional is what we do. With rising
concerns of the Africanised bee (killer bee) more people are now looking to
control their bee problems rather than avoiding them. Unlike other pest
control companies who only kill the bees but don't fully solve the problem; We
find the hive, remove the bees, remove the hive and prevent future
infestations of the area. That is true bee control!
alkali venom contains several kinds of proteins and enzymes which are believed
to cause allergic reactions of varying degrees in humans. Sting reactions,
which may increase with succeeding stings, include:
To find local beekeepers in your area that will remove bee swarms, Please
let the beekeeper know where the swarm is located, how long you've noticed the
bee swarm and the approximate size of the bee swarm. Also, do not spray
the bees or call an exterminator as beekeepers will not want to remove any
honey bees that have been chemically sprayed! Call
the beekeeper first!
perform bee removal in walls, roofs, attics, chimneys and other odd places
bees nest in. At times, we also provide swarm removal on trees, bushes, and
other exterior locations. Bee removal has changed quite a bit since the 80's,
here is a brief history of honey bee removal in the Australia, otherwise read
on to learn more about bee removal and solving your bee problem.
removal is often dangerous and difficult; although bees are often found under
eves they are much different then wasps. A few bees buzzing around an entrance
point or eve is usually sign of a beehive. An established beehive typically
will have 10,000 to 50,000 bees. In addition, a typical beehive has 25 to 100
lbs of honey and comb. Many times a bee exterminator is used to exterminate
the bees but the honeycomb is left in the wall. Removal of the honeycomb is
the key to solving a bee problem and not creating bigger problems that require
pest control for rodents and bugs, structural repair from melted honey, and
more bee removal problems in the future, When honey bees swarm they send out
'scout bees' whose mission is to look for the best place to establish a new
home. Usually they find a hollow area in a tree, but any enclosed empty space
that will provide protection for the weather will do. They may well find an
opening in your homes outside walls or foundation that will provide them a
very nice cosy spot inside your walls or ceilings or even the basement or
Removing honeybees from inside any of the above spaces is a time consuming process that is best put in the hands of a professional. You can do it yourself but only if you really know what you are doing and you use extreme caution, especially if you live in an area populated by the infamous African Bee.
The removal of African Bees should only be done by a professional service, as you could easily be attacked and lose your life !
It is important to realize that it is not sufficient to simply kill the bees and not remove the entire hive.
Honey bees ventilate their bee hives and if they are not there to perform this task then the hive will get too hot in the summer weather and its contents will eventually melt and seep through your walls or ceilings. That creates a real mess !
Most people first notice honeybees coming and going through a small hole in their home's outside walls or eaves. Sometimes they are able to find a hole where the foundation and your home's wooden structure are joined together. In this instance they either get up inside your walls or make a home in your basement or crawl space. Their entrance can be anywhere. Sometimes honeybees are first noticed flying around a window inside a room of your home. In this instance they have built a hive inside a wall or ceiling and they have found an opening very often around a ceiling light fixture. Try to observe how they are getting inside your room and open a window to let them get outdoors. They will have all left by nightfall. If possible close the door to the room after they have all left.
In any case, once you have noted how they are coming and going, call a pest removal service or a local beekeeper you may know or can find in your area. Some beekeepers will remove the bees and the entire hive.
In any event, the honeybees most likely will have to be exterminated and the person doing the job is going to have to access the hive by removing part of your outdoor or indoor wall. This will then provide access to the bee hive combs, which must be removed in their entirety and all that remains of the hive. It is important to exterminate a colony when all the bees are in the hive after dusk or before dawn.
A variety of pesticides, in liquid or dust formulations may be used to exterminate the bees. One needs to be careful in their use as these formulations are equally of danger to the health of us humans. There is good evidence to show that soapy water is a very good material for this purpose. It is inexpensive and relatively environmentally benign.
It is essential that all honeycomb and its contents be removed. Bits of wax left behind give off highly attractive odours that will attract other bees looking for a new home.
Once the bees have been exterminated and all traces of their occupation have been removed then the area that has been opened requires additional carpentry skills to enable a repair to restore it to its original condition and to ensure that no openings are left for a future swarm to move in a second time.
You may be able to see the exact opening being used by the honeybees to come and go but it is another thing to figure out exactly where they are inside a wall or ceiling. Tapping the wall or ceiling area that is inside opposite the outdoor hole being used by the bees can often locate the hive. While you tap you must simultaneously listen for an answering buzz from the honeybees. Once the hive is located, the exterminator will need to bore a hole, preferably through the outside wall [for obvious reasons :-)], so an insecticide can be applied to the hive.
To recap the above: Try to observe and note the hole in your outside wall being used by the bees. Do not attempt to kill the bees by spraying a pesticide into this opening. This will only kill those bees using the entrance/exit. It does not get rid of the thousands of bees inside the bee hive proper. Plugging the hole after using a pesticide could force the remaining inside bees to find a way to get in your home itself.
See if you can determine on your own, by the tapping method suggested above, where the hive may be behind your wall or ceiling. You can also use a drinking glass by placing its bottom against the wall and putting your ear to the open end. If this is all too fearful for you then forget it and let the exterminator locate the hive. If you live in an Sydney area known to be inhabited by honey Bees then use extreme caution, as you could easily lose your life if attacked. Honeybees are much more aggressive in stinging and chasing you long distances. Jumping into water to get away from them is also not sufficient, as they will fly around watching for you to eventually surface. Simply call an exterminator service immediately.
Carpentry skills are essential to this operation to both open up the exterior or interior wall or ceiling to provide access to the beehive, but also re close that opening to its original state once the job is completed.
Do deal with the problem when it is noticed. It will not go away and if you wait a few months you may well have thousands of more bees to deal with when you decide to tackle the problem. Ceilings have been known to collapse into a room from the weight of all the honey that has been stored in the beehive over time.
What is a swarm?
Swarming is the honey bee’s method of colony reproduction. The old queen and half of the worker bees leave their former nest and seek a new home mostly in the spring, but sometimes in late summer. A few worker honey bees, we call “scouts,” fly around areas in the vicinity ofthe old hive searching for a suitable, new habitat (the correct sized cavity with an easily protected entrance). Often, that job is not completed when the swarm “issues” from the hive. The outpouring of bees from the hive forms a large, buzzing cloud of insects that seems to be going every direction at once. That flying group of honey bees is the swarm. It is a phenomenal sight that frequently scares people. However, the bees eventually have to regroup, somewhere, while the search for a new home continues.
What do swarms do?
A few other worker bees, called “leader bees,” fly from the hive to a distant location, then land and secrete Nasanov pheromone. That lemon-like odor is attractive to the bees and queen in the swarm. The bees coalesce into a single group, on an object. The group properly is called a “cluster,” but most people still refer to it as a swarm. The bees in the cluster are carrying honey from the old hive and are much less defensive than they would be if they still were protecting combs containing brood (immature bees) and stored foods (pollens and honey). At this point in time homeowners attempt to reach someone to take the bees away. In the spring, this makes sense to a beekeeper, because the bees have all summer to build their population and collect enough honey to survive the winter. Fall swarms will not have a full season to collect stores and beekeepers often are not too interested in collecting them. During the time that scout bees are seeking a new nesting site, foragers fly to and from the cluster collecting mostly nectar (dilute sugar syrup) to keep their cluster mates hydrated and energized. If the scouts do not find a new location for the swarms to live, the urge to build comb can become overwhelming and the bees will build an “exposed comb colony,” suspended from a tree limb, the overhang of a house, or so other unusual place.
Experienced beekeepers often remove clusters simply by brushing the bees gently into a box and taking them away. This is best done after flight activity has ceased for the night, since the scouts and foragers will be back on the cluster. The beekeeper should be prepared for defensive behavior, in case it develops, but dealing with a cluster is usually quite easy. This changes, however, as the cluster becomes more difficult to reach, such as way up in a tall tree, intermeshed with the branches of a shrub, or wedged into the corner of a building. It is best to supply the beekeeper with as much information as possible about the swarm to prevent surprises. Regulatory agencies and professional pest control operators probably will have no desire to “take them alive.” So, chemicals will be used to kill the bees in the cluster. Choice of chemicals varies from commercial formulations of “soapy” water that prevent flight and drown the bees, to quickly toxic materials that simply knock out the bees’ nervous system and kill them. Regardless of the material used, the dead bee bodies should be collected and disposed of properly to prevent poisoning of birds or mammals that might ingest the contaminated carcasses. A stomach full of soap or detergent is just as lethal as a stomach full of synthesized pesticide,
What if the swarm is moving into my house?
Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether a honey bee cluster on the side of a building is simply resting there or moving, one by one, through a hole into an inner portion of a building. If the cluster size is shrinking, but hasn’t flown away, chances are they are moving in. Obviously, when they first arrive, they are short on food and have to build combs from wax they produce from the honey they are carrying. If they are not allowed to continue foraging for nectar, they will not accomplish much building. At this point in time, they can be “locked in” their new home with screen, steel wool, or something else through which they cannot chew to escape. They will die in place over the next week or two. However, they will be roaming around the area trying to find a new entrance, and a number of them are likely to find their way into the living quarters, especially by following beams of nighttime room lighting. Bees do not fly in the dark, but they will fly to the windows the next morning and stay there most of the day while they die of dehydration. They can be sucked up safely with a vacuum cleaner hose. Remember there may be live bees in the bag for a couple days after they have been vacuumed up.
What if bees have been established in my
house for a while?
Once the bees have become established, they will have built one or more combs in which they are rearing brood and storing food. Often they do no structural harm to the building, but they are noticeable by their incessant “humming.” That is the sound of the bees ventilating their hive with fresh air and blowing out carbon dioxide, if it accumulates. The sound picks up in intensity when ventilation also is being used to evaporate water from nectar to change it into honey.
Occasionally, the bees use water to soften sheetrock and remove it in order to expand the nesting area. Residents then will notice an enlarging “damp” area on the wall. In a few cases, the bees actually open a hole through the sheetrock. Very few people will respond to that event as did the person who opened the hole wider and covered it with a sheet of glass to have his own “observation hive.”
How are established honey bee colonies
Regardless of whether the bees are removed alive or dead, the combs have to be removed from the building. If they are not removed, the stored honey eventually will absorb enough water to allow yeast spores to germinate and ferment the honey. The resultant gas bursts the cappings and allows the honey to drain from the combs. Gravity starts moving the honey, then the first horizontal obstruction usually brings the honey into the home: a ceiling, a fire-break two by four, a window frame, a door frame, the floor, etc. The damage will be expensive to repair. Bees killed by pesticides may drop into a pile, where their bodies do not dehydrate quickly enough. Microbes growing in the bodies of dead bees can produce very offensive odors. Since it is not a good idea to handle pesticide contaminated honeycomb, anyway, it probably is best to eliminate the bees without first killing them by opening a hole in an exterior or interior wall, ceiling, etc., that is large enough to reach in and get the combs out. It is wise to consult with a contractor before the hole is opened. Some holes close a lot easier than others. If the bees are to be saved, the bees and combs are taken out gently and placed in a box or some other suitable container. With less regard for the bees’ safety, they can be removed from the void with a vacuum device (shop vac). This process tends to stimulate the bees to release “alarm pheromone” (smells like bananas) that increases defensive behavior, so everyone nearby must be fully clothed in a “bee suit.” Many beekeepers have baffles and collection containers, in their vacuum lines, to try to protect and save the bees. If the homeowner has a lot of patience, the bees can be “trapped” out of the building using a one-way wire screen devise that forces bees that leave the building to relocate into a beehive placed adjacent to the original entrance.
Consult with your county agent (Farm Advisor in Blacktown NSW) to be directed to a bee specialist who can help describe this procedure.
What do I do after the bees are gone?
Once the bees and combs are removed from the building, there
will be traces of beeswax left behind. Honey bees have an extremely acute
sense of smell and the next swarm will be attracted to the site where the
combs used to be. Therefore, it is mandatory that all holes or openings of
one-quarter inch or larger be caulked, screened, or otherwise plugged to keep
the bees out. Bees do not chew their way into buildings, but they are experts
at finding a hole to get through. The area requiring examination and servicing
includes the whole side of the building around the previous entrance or both
sides of the building, if the entrance was on a corner. Some people fill the
void where the previous nest was located with expanding foam insulation. But,
if the bees can find access to a void adjacent to the previous nesting site,
they will move right in. During the extraction process some bees are likely to
escape. Also, some honey bee foragers spend the night away from the hive in
the summer. So, there is likely to be a cluster of bees forming around the
entrance after the bees and combs have been removed. That small number of bees
can be vacuumed up or eliminated with an aerosol spray labeled for use on
wasps and bees outside the home. Be sure to read the label and follow the
Bees in a Wall - What Can be Done? Every year, beekeepers are called upon to give advice regarding the removal of honey bees (and other insect pests) from homes and buildings. Such advice is difficult to give because each case requires first hand information, and no two responses are alike. The following information is designed to give guidance about what needs to be done to accomplish honey bee nest removal and what considerations should be given when choosing a course of action. Properly completing a honey bee nest removal may involve a beekeeper to remove the insect, a carpenter to dismantle/reassemble the wall, and/or a licensed pest control company to eradicate the insects if removal is impractical. Keep in mind that you might also call an electrician or a plumber if safety or accessibility is an issue. Although many of the observations and suggestions provided are specific to situations found in Australia, much of this information is general enough that it would apply to any area. Each situation is unique, so no set plan will solve all of the problems involved. Often, a great deal of coordinated planning is needed. Just remember that there is no Pied Piper of Hamlin that can wave a magic wand or play a magic flute to draw the insects out of their hiding place. Honey bees are valuable pollinators. In the Australia approximately 1/3 of our food crops benefit either directly or indirectly from honey bee pollination. The destruction of honey bees should be a last resort, if possible. What should the homeowner do? First, identify the insect. Identification of the insect or its nest can provide valuable information needed to assess the situation. The solution to the problem can be quite different for each species of insect that takes up residence your home. For example, bumble bees typically will not nest in a wall cavity, but often find suitable nesting in materials such as insulation, foam pads, and/or seat cushions. Yellow jackets will build their paper nests in wall cavities, holes in the ground, or in the attic (or crawlspace) of your home. Honey bees like the protection of wall cavities, especially in older homes that lack insulation between the wall studs. Here are some tips to help you decide whether you have honey bees or some other insect: • If you see the insects flying from the entrance of the nest cavity in the spring (April to June in the north), then honey bees are a real possibility. • If you can find a dead insect, check to see if it is hairy. All bees have hairs while yellow jackets are smooth. You might take the insect to the Michigan State University Cooperative Extension office in your county for a positive identification. Pictures on the Internet or in insect identification books may be helpful in making a determination. There are a number of good yellow jacket websites, but we recommend Eastern Yellow Jacket and Yellow Jacket HYG 2075-97. • If you can see any part of the nest, it may help with the identification. Honey bees build honeycomb out of wax. Other stinging insects use wood fiber to build paper nests, or they may use mud as a building material. • A licensed pest control firm may have the resources to help you identify your insect problem. There may be a cost for this examination. • You may find a beekeeper to help identify the insect in question. • Take a digital photo and send it to the SEMBA Web master, you can find his contact information here . Removal of a yellow jacket nest It would be helpful to review the yellow jacket's life cycle before you tangle with this insect. Knowing its life cycle and habits will help you decide whether to remove the insect and its nest or to simply live with it in your wall or in your yard. Queen yellow jackets are raised in a paper nest beginning in the late summer to early fall. After mating, these queens leave the nest and find a protected location to hibernate. The old queen and all of the workers and drones of that hive will die and the paper nest will not be used the following year. Early the next spring, the new queens will come out of hibernation and seek a location to form a new nest. Depending upon the species of yellow jacket, some might build a paper nest on a tree, in a bush, or more commonly find a hole in the ground. Other species may seek out a cavity in your wall in which to build their paper nest. At first the queen does all of the paper nest making, egg laying and food gathering of nectar and insects for the young developing workers that are called brood. As the first brood hatch, they will forage for food, feed the young, and build more nest capacity. The queen will now stay in the nest to lay eggs. The size of the nest will increase dramatically by late summer and early fall. Early in this life cycle, you will hardly be aware of the nest because it is so small and not aggressive. However, by late summer the numbers of yellow jackets will have increased tremendously and they will be more likely to sting anyone coming near the nest. (It is usually the yellow jacket and not the honey bee that will be attracted to your beverage can or other food that you are consuming out-of-doors.) The bald-faced hornet that makes a large paper nest has basically the same life cycle as the yellow jacket. If you decide to eradicate yellow jackets, you could contact a pest control company or do it yourself. Locate the opening or openings and spray a wasp/hornet insecticide into the cavity opening. Evening is the best time because the majority of the insects are in the nest and not flying. Wearing gloves, a protective veil and clothing is advised. Follow the instructions and precautions on the label. It may take more than one application to completely destroy the colony. If the nest is located in your home, do Not simply close up the opening because these insects may find a way into the living area of your home. Yellow jackets that come into the home are usually not aggressive and often will be found at the windows looking for a way out. If the location of the nest is in an area (up high for example) where they are not bothering anyone, you might consider just leaving them until cold weather when they will all die. Then the important next step is to seal up the nest openings and look for and seal other places where insects could enter the following year. The inside of the nest of the yellow jacket and bald-faced hornet is very interesting. Use due caution when letting your children take the nests to school for show and tell. More than once, one or more un-hatched insects have emerged and interrupted a classroom. Removal of bumble bees The life cycle of the bumble bee is essentially the same as yellow jackets, hornets and wasps with only the fertile queens surviving to start nests the next year. The same wasp/hornet spray recommended for yellow jackets will kill bumble bees. Evening application works best. Bumble bees can be very aggressive when disturbed so use protective clothing and carefully follow the instructions and precautions on the label. Again, several evening applications may be needed. If you should choose to leave them, wait until cold weather, remove the old nesting material and make preparations to close off any entrances that newly hatched queens might enter next spring. Like the honey bee, the bumble bee is an important pollinator. If you can live with a bumble bee colony, you might want to let them benefit your property. Removal of honey bees Dealing with honey bees is a more complex issue and the degree of difficulty is much greater. The first step in the process is to identify exactly where the honey bee colony is located in your home. Then get ready to go to work. In recent years, several pest control companies have decided not to be involved with honey bee removals. In fact some firms will tell the landowner that it is illegal to kill honey bees. Often they argue that there is a shortage of honey bees, that honey bees are protected, or that they cannot do removal without a permit from the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA). The truth of the matter is that removal of honey bees from a home is a matter of personal safety, and there are no rules in Michigan that would prevent a landowner from removing a colony from their home. The information from pest control companies is simply not correct. Michigan's State Apiarist, Mike Hansen, routinely explains to homeowners that there are limited numbers of beekeepers interested in collecting nests from homes because the time and effort is seldom worth the prize. In regard to shortages of honey bees, there is a shortage of feral honey bee colonies (wild bees), but beekeepers have sources for purchasing replacement bees. A beekeeper can purchase honey bees more economically from firms that raise the line of bees that the beekeeper wants. Beekeepers also have the ability to increase the number of their own colonies by splitting the ones they have. The shortage of feral colonies of bees has been caused by the unwanted introduction of honey bee pests during the last 20-25 years. The tracheal and varroa mites, as well as the small hive beetle, can devastate a wild colony because there is no beekeeper to apply the products needed to protect these colonies. There may be some confusion in the pest control industry because there is a requirement on all agricultural pesticide products that is intended to protect managed colonies of honey bees from pesticide drift or misapplication. Since farmers need honey bees to pollinate their crops, there is little argument that honey bees need to be protected in the agricultural setting. You will seldom see this requirement on products that you can purchase at the local hardware store, or even on the labels of products used by firms that spray for insects in and around your home. It appears, however, that the precautionary statements on agricultural pesticides is being misapplied by pest control companies. Hansen reports that he checked with his State Apiary counterparts from the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and with apiary officials from the USDA several years ago, and there is no 'Federal Protection for Honey Bees' as the pest control firms have stated. What we have here is what's known as an "Urban Legend." Dealing with the problem Before we outline the methods of honey bee removal or eradication it may be helpful to review some information about the honey bee nest in your wall. Why did the bees choose this wall? When honey bees reproduce in the spring, they can quickly become over crowded. This activates a natural event called swarming wherein about one half of the bees in a colony will leave with the old queen to search out a new home. In the old established hive new queens will hatch, mate with drones and begin laying eggs. The old queen will fly a short distance from the hive and land. Attendant bees will cluster around her forming a large mass called a swarm. Scout bees will leave the swarm and search out a cavity to form a new nest. This new cavity could be in a tree, an old barrel, a cavity in a wall in your home with an opening at least 5/16 inch, or they could (in a rare situation) build an exposed nest on the side of your home or on vegetation. If the cavity in your wall had bees before and the opening was not sealed, the odor of the wax comb may attract them to that location. Could I have prevented bees from occupying my wall? Yes, if you had sealed all holes 5/16 inch or larger that led to a cavity. What does the swarm do inside the cavity to make a honey bee nest? When honey bees move into a cavity, they first build wax comb cells and begin to fill some with nectar (this later becomes honey) and pollen. The queen will begin to lay eggs in other cells. After 3 days, the eggs hatch and become larvae feeding on honey and pollen. After 9 days of feeding, larvae become pupa then adults. This cycle (from egg to adult) takes 21 days. In a recently established hive, the amount of comb and brood (immature bees) will be small. The average swarm contains about 10,000 bees. A more established hive may have wax comb filling up the entire space 16" x 4" x 7-8 ' between the studs and may contain 50,000 to 60,000 honey bees. If the wall becomes too warm, especially on the south side of the building, the wax may melt and the honey may flow down the wall. An active hive keeps the hive cool enough so this seldom happens. What safety concerns should I be thinking about? You should be concerned if someone living in the house is allergic to honey bee stings. Only a small percentage of people are allergic to honey bees; but for these people venom can be life threatening. Honey bees sting to defend their colony. Avoid walking in front of the entrance and avoid any disturbance near the hive. When bees leave the entrance, they usually fly upward. If the opening to the nest is higher than 8 to10 feet walking by will cause little disturbance. Should I plug the hole? You could, but don't! Bees will look for another exit which could include holes leading into your home; your house has several openings like those around ductwork, or ceiling and wall fixtures. You don't want the bee's only route out to be through the inside of your house. Can the bees be saved? Sometimes bees can be saved by trapping them out of the wall or by physically removing them after dismantling the wall covering. Both procedures are time consuming and costly and most beekeepers are not interested in providing this service. The value of the honey bees to a beekeeper is minimal as the survival rate for bees removed physically (cutting out comb, etc.) is poor. If there is no immediate threat, what is the best time for removal? Late winter/early spring is a good time because the bees have consumed a large amount of their stored honey during the winter. Also, the number of bees present in the hive is lower than it will be later in the spring. If I can find a beekeeper to remove them what is involved? The ideal situation for removal of honey bees would be in the late winter/early spring and where the wall is easily dismantled exposing the comb and contents. The homeowner must pay the expense of dismantling the wall and having the wall rebuilt. The comb with brood and honey is cut out and placed in frames to be placed in the beekeeper's hive box. Some beekeepers use a special vacuum that will remove bees from the exposed comb without killing them. Often the situation is not ideal because of the kind of building material (brick, cement or stone), the location, or some other factor that presents an obstacle. Before you call a beekeeper for assistance, you should be able to answer the following questions: • What kind of insect is nesting in your wall? • Are the insects an immediate danger to people or animals? Has anyone been stung? Is the entrance in the wall near a place where people must walk? • How high is the entrance? Is there more than one entrance? • How long have they been there? • What is the wall construction material? • What direction does the wall face? Options for removing or eradicating bees from walls So, what are your options? In our opinion here are your choices. • Just leave them alone unless safety is a concern. Homeowners often follow this advice. In many cases the unmanaged bees will die over the winter due to problems with disease, parasitic mites, starvation, prolonged cold weather and other conditions. If you are convinced that the bees are dead, be sure to seal that opening as well as other places where bees may enter. • Contact a pest control company for assistance. You may need to call several before you find one that will eradicate honey bees. Expect that eradication will not be a simple task and the charges for these services will reflect the difficulty of the job. It has been our experience that a single treatment kills only the adult bees flying or walking around the nest. After a few days the pupa, protected by the wax of their cells, will emerge as adults, so you still have a problem. We recommend that you insist they treat at least 2-3 times over a two week period. • Find a beekeeper that will physically remove the comb and bees after the wall is removed exposing the nest. Expect to pay the beekeeper because the value of the bees is questionable at best. The labor needed to remove the colony coupled with angry bees and sticky honey makes this job difficult. When the beekeeper is done, you still have to rebuild the wall. Some beekeepers have saved bees by trapping them from the wall. Essentially, trapping involves reducing the entrance to one opening and installing an exit cone. The cone is usually screen wire shaped into a funnel-like design. The base is secured over a single entrance. A small exit at the tip of the cone, no larger than 3/8", allows the bees to exit but they cannot re-enter. The beekeeper places a small hive with a few frames of brood, honey and a queen (this is called a nucleus or "nuc") near the exit cone. Bees that leave the nest in your wall will then join the "nuc". Depending upon location, height, etc., a scaffold, ladders, and devices may be required to hold the "nuc" in place. The size of the nest in your wall will determine how long it takes for all the bees to complete the exit. We have found that it can take up to two months in some cases. It works best by starting early in the spring when the colony is small. Other details on trapping techniques of trapping can be found in beekeeping publications. • Eradicate them yourself. Aerosol pesticides, containing pyrethroids labeled to kill wasps and hornets can be used and are effective because they kill the insect immediately on contact. For best results, wait until evening and spray into the opening/openings. If you can locate the actual location of the colony in your wall, you can drill additional holes through which to apply the insecticide. You may have to spray every two to three days. Spraying is less effective if the nest is located far inside the wall away from the opening. It will take longer if the nest has been there for some time. When you first spray, the un-hatched developing bees (pupa) are protected by wax comb; therefore, you may have to repeat the process again in two to three weeks. After determining there is no more activity, seal all holes that could attract future invaders. Other insecticides like Sevin in a dust formulation may be applied using a gas motor or electric blower, modified with a small opening, to force the dust into the nest. Bees will not die immediately but will track the dust throughout the hive causing eventual death. Some have used a garden hand-duster dispenser to introduce the dust into the nest. It is important to follow label instructions and safety precautions. When using a pesticide application, follow all of the precautionary statements on the label to ensure that you don't harm yourself. Clothing worn when making an application should always be washed separate from the normal laundry. Always make sure the pesticides you use are properly labeled for the job at hand, and follow the directions. In each of the above cases, it's important to determine where the nest was located. Honey and wax that is not kept cool by a colony of honeybees can melt and seep through your walls. The smell of honey and wax left behind by a colony is also a calling card to new swarms. If you don't take the precaution of carefully sealing your wall, you can quickly have another colony take up residence in the same place. If the colony is large, tear out the wall, clean up the wax and honey, and paint over the area. Remember that it's cheaper to replace a sheet of drywall from the inside of the house than it is to replace the outside of the wall. Bees in a tree cavity Much of the information provided for bees in a wall could also apply for bees in a tree near your home. In many cases the bees are high in the tree and the home owner may not even be aware they exist. Since bees in a tree cavity have little room to expand they may swarm; therefore, it would be advisable to have the name of a beekeeper to call in the event that this happens. For more information on reporting a swarm, visit the Southeastern Michigan Beekeepers' Association web site: sembabees.org We work in all these are in NSW: Abbotsbury Abbotsford Alexandria Alfords Point Allambie Heights Allawah Annandale Annangrove Arncliffe Arndell Park Artarmon Ashbury Ashcroft Ashfield Auburn Audley Austral Australia Square Balgowlah Balgowlah Heights Balmain Balmain East Bangor Banksia Banksmeadow Bankstown Barden Ridge Bardwell Park Bardwell Valley Bass Hill Baulkham Hills Beacon Hill Beaconsfield Beaumont Hills Beecroft Belfield Bella Vista Bellevue Hill Belmore Berala Beverley Park Beverly Hills Bexley Bexley North Birchgrove Birrong Blacktown Blakehurst Bondi Bondi Junction Bonnet Bay Bonnyrigg Bonnyrigg Heights Bossley Park Botany Botany Breakfast Point Brighton-le-sands Bronte, Waverley Brookvale Bundeena Burraneer Burwood Burwood Heights Busby Cabarita Cabramatta Cabramatta West Camellia Cammeray Camperdown Campsie Canada Bay Canley Heights Canley Vale Canterbury Caringbah Carlingford Carlton Carramar Carss Park Cartwright Castle Cove Castle Hill Castlecrag Casula Cecil Hills Centennial Park Chatswood Chatswood West Cheltenham Cherrybrook Chester Hill Chifley Chippendale Chipping Norton Chiswick Chullora Clemton Park Clontarf Clovelly Clyde Como Concord Concord Repatriation Hospital Concord West Condell Park Connells Point Constitution Hill Coogee, South Coogee Cremorne Cremorne Point Cronulla Crows Nest Croydon Croydon Park Curl Curl Daceyville Darling Point Darlinghurst Darlinghurst Darlington Dawes Point Denistone Denistone East Denistone East Denistone West Dolans Bay Dolls Point Double Bay Dover Heights Drummoyne Dulwich Hill Dundas Dundas Valley Dural Earlwood East Hills East Killara East Lindfield East Ryde East Suburbs Eastern Suburbs Eastgardens Eastlakes Eastwood Edensor Park Edgecliff Edmondson Park Elizabeth Bay Enfield Engadine Enmore Epping, North Epping Ermington Erskineville Eveleigh Fairfield Fairfield East Fairfield 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Toongabbie Turramurra Turrella Ultimo University Of University Of New South Wales University Of Nsw Vaucluse Villawood Voyager Wahroonga Wakeley Wareemba Warrawee Warwick Farm Waterfall Waterloo Waterloo Watsons Bay Wattle Grove Waverton Wentworthville West Chatswood West Hoxton West Pennant Hills West Ryde Westleigh Westmead Wetherill Park Wiley Park Willoughby Willoughby East Winston Hills Wolli Creek Wollstonecraft Woodpark Woollahra Woolloomooloo Woolooware Woolwich World Square Woronora Woronora Heights Yagoona Yarrawarrah Yennora Yowie Bay Zetland
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