So yesterday when I got home from work I noticed a swarm of bees on the house in the corner between the chimney and the wall. It was probably 2 ft wide and 3 ft long and they were all on top of each other. I'm talking hundreds of bees here. They didn't seem to care if I was there or not but I quickly went inside. I called my hubby to tell him so when he got home from work we went and checked the same spot and no bees! There were maybe 5 or 6 flitting around and as we sat there discussing it we watched one little bugger crawl in a tiny crack between the mortar of the chimney and the house.

I immediately called my dad (Daddy to the rescue!!) and he confirmed my suspicion that we have a hive in our wall. He suggested calling a bee removal service and letting them handle it just to be sure they are not in the attic as well. We called 3 bee people last night and left messages. Anyone have any ideas? Any thoughts on how much this is going to cost? Is there a way to capture the bees to take them somewhere else? I don't want to kill them unless we have to as the only option.

Gosh, gardengal. I feel for you! I am allergic to the things. I hope you and your family aren't. I don't have any advice to give you, I'm afraid. I think I would burn my house down if we had an invasion of bees!

Dianna

Kristen,
I am a bee advocate...
Truely I am!!!
I would never hurt one or discourage it
from my yard...
(and actually I do encourage them into my yard)

That said..


<b>DON'T FOOL AROUND WITH A HIVE/SWARM THAT BIG

I love bees too and I am always so grateful when I see one buzzing around but I do not want them living in my house!! My hubby and I are not allergic but my sister is, so until this is done she can't come visit. I'm definitely leaving it up to the professionals to handle. I just hope there is some way to convince them to go to a new hive and go to do their bee thing somewhere else.

Well the bee guy came out on Saturday and said he does not think we have a hive in the wall. He said if we had a working hive we would see worker bees coming in and out to go out and collect pollen for honey. Yay!! And he didn't even charge me. He suggested filling the small hole in the mortar in the chimney and keep our eye out.

I'm no expert, but I'd get a second opinion. Perhaps they're still building the hive? Closing them into your wall by sealing the chimney sounds a little cruel to me, and they may try escaping another way -- perhaps through your house?

That's just my 2&#162;...

BTW - If there was a hive in your wall, what they do to remove it is tear out a hole in the sheetrock and vacuum the little buggers up -- doesn't hurt them.

JG

I agree that just closing them up in there would be cruel but I don't think we have them in there anymore. I can't hear any more buzzing anywhere. Both my hubby and I have listened a couple of times since the big swarm was here. I think they may be gone. Not that I miss them or anything...

Just keep an eyeball out for them...
Just to make sure!!!!!

Definitely!!!

Their old hive probably just split and they were looking for a new home - hopefully they checked yours out and decided it wasn't what they were looking for

We have carpenter bees that are in the eave of the shed - in the spring you could hear them gnawing. <shudder> I kinda wanted to fill up the holes, but didn't want them moving into my attic instead?!

So, it's been a few days now - are you still seeing them around or have they moved on?

Nope, no signs of the bees. I think they decided it wasn't too pratical to build their hive in such a small spot. Thank goodness. We have plenty of bees in the yard buzzing around the ground cover but they seem intent on ignoring me, which is just fine. I even pulled weeds around them and they could really care less. Of course, I'm always careful to not step on any or whack them.