Bees and Honey

A couple from Peterborough were pretty sure the sound coming from inside the wall of their master bathroom was bees. "I heard the buzzing, louder than my electric toothbrush. I turned it off and then I heard the drones."

When the callout was made, the quest was on to search for the insects in the Peterborough home. First a few holes were drilled in the walls, then some of the plaster was peeled away... and then we hit the sweet spot... literally.

If you see bees going in and out in quick succession, it's likely that you have honey and wax in the walls. In this particular house there were between 40,000 and 60,000 honey bees actually living behind the plaster and insulation.

With global numbers of honey bees in decline, it is important that these insects are not simply killed, but relocated where possible. Of course, this isn't necessarily practical in all situations, but a healthy honey bee colony has the ability to adapt to any new environment and will rarely move back to it's previous location if its needs are met in the new one.

Moving honey bees is no easy task. A special vacuum is used together with a box, which gently sucks up the bees. Generally, bees are not too happy when this happens to them so it's important that safety precautions are taken. Once the bees are successfully stored within their transportation container, they can be moved to a safe area.

Following the removal of the bees, it was time to start work taking out the rows of honeycomb that the bees had built in between the wall studs. About 5lbs of honey was also taken out.

Given the right environment, bee colonies can grow in size extremely quickly. In this particular case, the colony was only about a month old. If it had been left alone for another month, it would have doubled in size to about 80,000 bees.

Although not completely unknown, the occurence of a bee colony within the walls of a home is uncommon and generally occurs only where there are a number of entrance and exit holes within the wall itself. Any gap, crack, hole or opening larger than ⅛th of an inch that leads into any sort of void is a potential entrance.

Bee-proofing is sealing, patching, screening or otherwise closing any of these potential entrances. This can be done with caulking, render or plaster patching material, wire mesh, insulating foam, and any number of other materials.

Cauking, Render and Plaster Patching

The render and plaster patching materials are permanent solutions for holes or cracks in situations involving a wide variety of building materials. Once the patching material is finished off smooth and allowed to dry it can be primed and painted to match the rest of the structure. In the case of a block wall, a plant or vine can be planted to cover the patch.

Insulating Foam

Insulating foam is quick and easy to use. The can comes with an applicator tip so there are no other tools necessary to use the foam. In many situations it should not be used as a permanent solution. In places where the hole is large or exposed to weather the foam is a good, temporary fix until a permanent repair can be done.

In areas where there is a history of bee activity, steel wool should be inserted into the opening before the foam is applied. Otherwise the bees will chew through it.

Article provided by SDA Pest Control