The smaller bees take care of the nest. There size has to do with
their diet. Their size allows them to get around the egg/larva wax
balls in the nest.

The dominant bee (the queen) is the largest. The rest are foragers.

Get a copy of the "The Humble Bee" by Sladen and read it. I couldn't
put it down until I finished it. Simply fasinating.

beekeep



On 8 Sep 2004 13:41:25 -0700, (Dirk
Puslich) wrote:

Thanks everyone for your help so far. Here's an update of where
things are, if you are interested or have any further thoughts:

1) It's now been 3 days (72 hours) since the exterminator left. The
Ficam D was sprayed into the wall on Sunday. On Monday night I posted
my first message after killing several bees.

3) On Tuesday (after 48 hours) I came home from work and found/killed
another 12 or 13 bees. I called the exterminator and asked if this
was normal. He said it could take up 4 days or so for them to go
away. He also said that the hole shouldn't have been plugged (their
mistake) and I should stick a screwdriver into it to make sure they
can get out. I did this but I'm pretty sure it's still clogged with
the Ficam D because the hole is so deep in the wall and he pumped tons
of it in (and they are still coming into my basement)

4) Today (Wednesday) I went home mid afternoon and found 4 in my
dining room, quite healthy (before my newspaper attack), and another 4
in the basement (right below the dining room where the nest is) quite
sickly - floundering around on their backs - presumably from the Ficam
D. I called the exterminator again and asked if this is normal. They
were fairly dismissive and said "Oh, it can take at least a week,
don't worry". Gee thanks.

This really sucks.

I am guessing that the bees that are coming out into my house now are
new "hatchlings". They are almost all smaller workers. I killed two
huge ones before the exterminator came (Queens??? Unfertilized
Queens???)

Anyone have any words of wisdom, or think that the worst is over?

Cheers









(beekeep) wrote in message ...
On 6 Sep 2004 19:42:12 -0700, (Dirk Puslich)
wrote:

Hello, I am looking for a few answers that I was hopign you could help
me with.


Here are my questions:

1) It's been about 36 hours since the exterminator left. Have I seen
the worst of the bees inside? How long should it take for them to
die?

Bumble bees nests have 30 -40 bees each so it sounds like you have
gotten most of them.

2) Is this a normal exterminator experience? I've spent $150 getting
some dust sprayed in the wall, and have had to contend with a bunch of
angry bees in my house, a ruined long weekend. Did I get the shaft?
What does someone have to do or pay to get something done right?


Any thoughts or suggestions??

P.S. I know bees are very beneficial to the environment and are not
aggressive uless provoked, but like I said I had no choice given that
many were coming into my house, and with a pregant wife plus a curious
dog and cat I had to do something. I hate killing them.

Thanks!

I had a similar problem with a nest next to my patio door. The nest
was under the siding and the entrance was close to the ground. I
placed the suction part of my leaf blower at the entrance to the nest.
The leaf blower would suck them up before they came back in or just
after the left. After about an hour my patio was filled with bee
parts. It took about three days with one hour at a time, by the third
day the bees coming out were very small. I'm not a bee guy but I
guess they started to pannic, sending any capable bee out to see why
no one is coming back. Good Luck

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts. Today's update is that I
went home at lunch and killed a total of 4.

#1 in the dining room above where the nest is - he was quite slow and
dazed.

# 2 was on the stairs down to the basement - he was quite lively but
didn't escape my duct-tape/newspaper smacking stick.

# 3 was dazed and floundering on the floor in the basement.

#4 dropped down from where the nest is - not dazed but I got him when
he landed on the floor.

From the dining room when I put my ear to the floor I could hear what
I can only describe as a "crunching" or "munching" sound from the nest
- like someone chewing popcorn with their mouth open.

I'm half-tempted to drill a few smaill holes in the drywall around the
nest and blast it with raid or that Sevin dust people were talking
about, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not, given that the
exterminator already put in some Ficam D.

I'll keep you posted.









(mike60510) wrote in message . com...
I had a similar problem with a nest next to my patio door. The nest
was under the siding and the entrance was close to the ground. I
placed the suction part of my leaf blower at the entrance to the nest.
The leaf blower would suck them up before they came back in or just
after the left. After about an hour my patio was filled with bee
parts. It took about three days with one hour at a time, by the third
day the bees coming out were very small. I'm not a bee guy but I
guess they started to pannic, sending any capable bee out to see why
no one is coming back. Good Luck

In article ,
(Dirk Puslich) wrote:



I'm half-tempted to drill a few smaill holes in the drywall around the
nest and blast it with raid or that Sevin dust people were talking
about, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not, given that the
exterminator already put in some Ficam D.

I'll keep you posted.

I had a similar problem with ants. Drilled a few holes in which I
squirted a few drops of oil of pennyroyal.. End of story.. I place oil
of pennyroyal about my foundation every so often, Works and is not to
toxic. DO NOT TAKE IN INTERNALLY. Smell makes em consider a nicer
place to live.

Bill

--
Zone 5 S Jersey USA Shade
Serious Vision Problems? -- http://www.ocutech.com/ Two son's users.
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere,
diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho Marx

Drilled a few holes in which I
squirted a few drops of oil of pennyroyal.. End of story.. I place oil
of pennyroyal about my foundation every so often, Works and is not to
toxic. DO NOT TAKE IN INTERNALLY. Smell makes em consider a nicer
place to live.

Oil of Pennyroyal is used to cause abortion!
I would not have it around a pregnant woman in any form....internally or
otherwise.
Emilie

I'm half-tempted to drill a few smaill holes in the drywall around the
nest and blast it with raid or that Sevin dust people were talking
about, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not, given that the
exterminator already put in some Ficam D.

I seem to recall you were "concerned about a pregnant wife" All those
pesticides in your home are not a very good idea IMO
Emilie