Bees Swarming Inside the Home and Walls

Honey bees normally colonize out of doors in hollow trees, in other out of the way places or in specially constructed bee hives. Occasionally, bees will find a crack in the wall of a home which they use to gain entrance to the inside wall void areas and construct a nest.

Bee colonies can become quite large and contain thousands of immature bees with large quantities of honey, bee bread and wax. Sometimes these bees will accidentally get into the home when they find a crack which leads from the wall void into the home. Since bees can inflict highly painful stings, they should be controlled when they get into homes. Some individuals are killed when stung by bees; therefore, it is best to stay away from bees, and, if stung, immediately contact a physician for proper treatment.

To prevent bees from using the walls in your home to construct a colony, attempt to seal all entrances that might be used by bees to gain entry. Caulking compounds and other building materials can be used both inside the home where holes, cracks and crevices occur as well as on the outside where entrances for bees exist.

If bees do construct a colony in the walls of your home, the tremendously large size of the colony can pose serious problems when attempts are made to remove the colony. In most cases it would be advisable to contact your licensed professional pest control operator to control the bees and possibly a carpenter to repair the wall. If bees are killed inside the wall then the entire colony with honey and immatures will begin to rot. This causes serious odor problems and when the honey begins to seep from the cells in the nest, it will sometimes come through the wall causing serious structural problems. Therefore, when a colony is killed inside the walls of a home your must remove all of the hive immediately. If you decide to attempt this on your own, you can treat the nest at night when the bees are quiet.

Be sure you are adequately protected. During the day, watch the bees and determine their entrance and exit. Usually there is only one place used by bees to gain entry or exit from the wall area. Sevin spray or dust could be used to totally soak or dust the inside of the wall void and nest as well as the outside. This procedure must be continued until there is no longer any activity. This is usually done early in the spring before bees begin to replenish the supply of honey which was used up in the colder months of the year. When all of the bees in the colony have been destroyed, then portions of the wall must be removed and the entire contents of the nest removed.

Bees are highly susceptible to most insecticides: therefore, whether they occur inside or outside the home, they can usually be killed fairly easily using household aerosol sprays or garden sprays. Be sure to be extremely cautious when attempting to control bees and follow all insecticide label precautions.

For more information on bees swarming inside the home and walls, contact your local county Extension office.