does anybody know anything about honey bees. i have an large infestation of them in the wall of my house. i don't want to kill them but i need to get them out. any suggestions?

Check for a bee keeper in your area.  They can get them out.  You will probably have to do some repair as they will probably have to open the wall to get at them.

Jerry

ok i got ahold of a lady down the road that has bees on her farm. she didn't want too disturb the nest and gave me the # to the county bee inspector. she told me to exterminate them and she wished me luck :D
i'm thinking of starting a grass fire in  a trash can at night and cutting the side of the house open with a chainsaw. (sounds like an accident waiting to happen right) i was also considering burning down the whole house that way i would get rid of the bees for sure and i wouldn't have all the rehab work to do when i get home off the road. ;D

i'm open to suggestions

Buy a gallon of milk a loaf of cheap white bread and a jar of Skippy P-nut butter.

          Potter

Mmmm! Peanut butter and bee sandwiches.  :)

The only way for a keeper to get the hive is to get the queen and get the hive to follow. Once they're in your walls...that's a toughie! I'm thinking it's kill or be killed time!!! ;D

Joe

Potter wrote on Jun 13^th, 2009 at 7:09pm:

Buy a gallon of milk a loaf of cheap white bread and a jar of Skippy P-nut butter.           Potter

ok now what? this should be interesting

I think Potter is saying to make peanut butter and honey sammiches and wash it down with the milk?

Have to say...I loved PB&H sammies as a kid..I just may have to make one for a snack tonight for old times sake.

Do you actually have a County Bee Inspector? :)

KJ wrote on Jun 13^th, 2009 at 9:38pm:

Do you actually have a County Bee Inspector? :)

I'm going to take a wild guess here, that a "county bee inspector" would be a professor  from a nearby college and be part of the University Extension Program.  

These are professors that have qualified  knowledge in certain areas and get paid a stipend/ or a per diam from the County/s they cover to be accessible to answer such questions whenever the need arises.

Then again here in WI there is a private business dedicated to eradicating bats from ones attics.  It's illegal to kill them here, so if you have bats infesting your home you need to hire out to do away with them.  Had to do this when I was still married.  It's expensive as hell too.  

There may be a full time bee expert on county staff if bee keeping is a big income market in the area.

  The best way to kill bees and bee like insects is to spray them with a fixture of soap and water. I use dish washing soap, it needs to sud. I put it in a garden sprayer. I don't know how much soap to use I just keep adding it until the spay suds on impact. This will only work if you can spray the hive. You may have to drill a hole or two. I would do that at night when they are asleep.
     The soap suffocates them because they breath through their skin. It will not leave poison in your house.

Paul

KJ wrote on Jun 13^th, 2009 at 9:38pm:

Do you actually have a County Bee Inspector? :)

yeah we do. shes just a lady thats lived out here since she was a child. she and her husband farm. i would think she gets paid for being an inspector but im not sure if shes a professor. she very knolagable about bees and well known around the community.   the township trustee is a farmer. he has an old backhoe that he uses to dig the graves down at the graveyard and he plows or driveways in the wintertime. he came out and dug the footers for my porch and moved ard moved around a bunch of dirt spent 6 hours out here and he charged me $100. my neighbor works on the life squad. his brother is a deputy sheriff.  both of them farm. they're all pretty good people and we all help each other out when we can.

my neighbor told me that i would be able to cut out the wall and move them without killing them. i'm going to try that. the retired couple down the road with the bees loaned me their beekeeper vale and gloves. i just met them today. they gave me some good information. i had a beer with a couple guys down the road and they're gonna help me with the siding.  

i love it here :)

Opus wrote on Jun 13^th, 2009 at 10:59pm:

The best way to kill bees and bee like insects is to spray them with a fixture of soap and water. I use dish washing soap, it needs to sud. I put it in a garden sprayer. I don't know how much soap to use I just keep adding it until the spay suds on impact. This will only work if you can spray the hive. You may have to drill a hole or two. I would do that at night when they are asleep.      The soap suffocates them because they breath through their skin. It will not leave poison in your house. Paul

the hive is inside the wall so i'm not sure if that would work but i have heard that. i'm guessing theres a few thousand in there.

Ohio beekeepers asking for help
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The honey bee, essential to crop pollination and a healthy environment, is threatened by planned cuts to the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s (ODA) Apiary Program. Honey bees not only produce honey, they are essential for the pollination of over 90 food and forage crops. One third of our food supply, or every third bite you take, depends on honey bee pollination. The USDA estimates the value of honey bee pollination to U.S. agriculture to be in excess of 14 billion dollars annually. A 2005 Ohio Department of Agriculture report estimates the value of honey bee pollination to Ohio agriculture to be 44 million dollars annually.

Mounting threats to the honey bee such as parasitic mites, diseases and Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which has received much publicity in the past year, have endangered the honey bee and the beekeeping industry in Ohio and around the world. The ODA Apiary Program has worked to protect the honey bee in Ohio since 1905 through a program of inspection and regulation. However, a series of cuts in the Apiary Program over the past decade has reduced the trained apiary staff within the ODA from a total of six to one, a level of staffing that is barely adequate to maintain an effective program.

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Ohio State University Extension Service
Ohio Department of Agriculture
June, 2006

BEES AND PESTICIDES
Tim Miklasiewicz
Members of the general public, pesticide applicators, and even some
county apiary inspectors have reported to the ODA [Ohio Department of Agriculture] Apiary Section their belief that it is illegal to kill honey bees. Many people recognize the tremendous economic and ecological value contributed by this small animal. However, it is not illegal for a landowner or renter to kill unmanaged bees residing on land under his/her control, such as within the wall of a building or within a cavity in a tree.
Although an unpleasant alternative, it may be justified when there is a legitimate human health threat or risk of property damage from bees. It is certainly not illegal for a beekeeper to kill his or her own bees, although we usually strive to avoid doing so.

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*If I was in your situation, I would make some calls before killing them to be sure of the regulations in your specific area/county/etc. pertaining to such action.
Better safe than sorry.
;)

thanks allot steve. that was very resourceful of you.  [smiley=thumb.gif]

You're welcome.
:)

Hey JoHnny,

I finally salvaged one of the photos I took when you and your sister made a visit with Joyce and me in February.

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If you've already called an apiarist and the State folks say it's alright to kill the bees then you've got two options...  remove the hive yourself and save a few hundred dollars or call a Honey Bee structure removal service.  The repair costs will be about the same either way.

If you want to do it yourself, you've got two more options, save the honey or trash it and go through the siding on outside wall or sheetrock on the inside.  I helped a neighbor do this in Texas many years ago and we went through the inside wall as there was no good way of cutting through the exterior siding without creating a greater repair expense...  We used the method below and saved the honey.

In any event, you'll need to get rid of the hive, bees and any honeycomb from the wall structure area as any honey will seep through the siding or sheetrock making a mess that will attract ants and other critters once the bees are gone.

If you decide to DIY to save honey, find the entrance to the hive and the general location of the hive comb area itself.  In most cases the hive is located between wall studs near the header in the upper half of the wall and usually on the paper side of the wall insulation. You should be able to hear the bees from the inside wall during the day.  If this is the case, locate the main exterior entrance to the hive, wait until night and block it with a wet paper towel held in place with a stick.  

You'll need a plastic drop cloth, two clean hefty trash bags, a freshly charged CO2 fire extinguisher with as long a hose as possible (two 5 lb or one 10 lb extinguisher should do the trick), a box cutter, a cake knife, a large pancake spatula, a pair of heavy work gloves, a pair rubber gloves, an old towel, a mesh citrus bag or an old pair of pantyhose, and a vacuum cleaner.  Use a pencil to mark the studs and the approximate location of the hive comb and lay the plastic sheet on the floor below.

Use the box cutter to gently cut a hole through the sheetrock between the studs and below the comb area large enough to insert the fire extinguisher hose without the cone if you can remove it.  Cut a second smaller hole above the hive below the header near the ceiling as a vent and thumbtack the mesh bag or pantyhose over the hole.  Insert the the fire extinguisher hose (less cone) through the hole and any fiberglass insulation pointed upward between the studs and stuff the towel around the hose.  Empty half the extinguisher angling the hose back and forth from side to side then listen.  If you hear buzzing keep giving more shots of CO2 until the buzzing stops.  

This should freeze the hive and its occupants or chill the bees sufficiently to safely remove a section of sheetrock between the wall studs so you can see the extent of the hive's comb.  You may need to remove the fiberglass insulation to get to the comb. Place the insulation in one of the trash bags just in case any of the bees that are still alive warm up and become problematic.  Once you've got the comb exposed look for any movement.  If you see any bees still moving, frost the comb area again with the fire extinguisher. The comb should look something like the one shown following photo.

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Once you're sure the bees are dead, start cutting away the comb with the cake knife and pancake spatula and place it in one of the clean plastic trash bags bees and all. Your local apiarist will be able to spin off the honey for you.  Again, getting all the comb and bees out is important as any residual honey will eventually seep through the sheetrock.  After that you'll need to cut away most of the insulation, scrape any remaining comb away between the wall studs and place it in the second trash bag.  Finally you'll need to vacuum out the space between the wall studs down to the footer.

If you don't want to save the honey or the bees are up in the soffit or in the attic area, call an exterminator.

Take care,

V/R, Batch

Smoke em out and run run run JoHnny....! :D


lefty...!

thanks pete. thats the best advice i've gotten thus far.

anybody watch the Exterminators?

call Billy at VexCon!

alrighty folks ima goin in thare. if i don't make it i'll see yall on the other side [smiley=bigguns.gif]

Careful Johnny... let us know how it works out!

Pepp - who is very afraid of and allergic to bee stings  :o

This is so timely.  Our neighbors came over today and said they had at least 10,000 bees on the side of their house and oh gracious what to do???

They called a bee-keeper and he said they either lost their queen or there were two queens in their hive and the hive freaked out.  The swarm coated half of the side of their house!!

The bee keeper set out hive boxes coated with sugar water for them but they seem to going up under their brand-new-weeks-old-siding . . . .

I hope they don't end up with the same problem you have.

Best of luck Johnny - I'll be watching this thread carefully.

So...how'd that work out for you?

Best,

George

George wrote on Jun 16^th, 2009 at 2:41am:

So...how'd that work out for you? Best, George

very well. i didn't get stung. the comb was the size of a dinner plate. the bees weren't as aggressive as i thought but there were 1000s of them. i got most of them transferred to the hive box. i'm glad that i didn't have to kill all of them. i'll take the hive box back down to the nice couple down the street.  to the  cant seem to get the pics off the camera but ill keep trying. 2 days ago i knew nothing about bees. if i was home more i wouldn't mind having a few.

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JoHnny,

Good on you... Well done!!!

V/R, Batch