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Bumblebees in my house! Help!
Hello, I am looking for a few answers that I was hopign you could help
me with. I live in Ontario, Canada, and have discovered that I have a nest of bumblebees living in the wall of my house. I am sure they are bumblebees (not honeybees, carpentar bees, etc.). I am guessing they are living in the insulation on the inside of of the brick wall where the basement was finished ( I can hear them buzzing). Unfortunately, many of them were making their way into the house. I have a dog, cat, and pregant wife who have never been stung so I had to call an exterminator. The exterminator used a white powder called Ficom D and sprayed it into the hole in the bricks (from the outside) where the bees were going. After a few hours most of the bees that were outside of the nest gave up and moved on. The exterminator (who was not too helpful in the advice department) used a misting bottle and sprayed something a little bit inside, close to where we thought the nest is but not right on it. We have a bunch of openings in the wall for access to the hot water pipes etc. The exterminator told me to get some screen door mesh and put it over these openings so the bees can't get out. Well, I got half way putting up the mesh (about an hour after the exterminator left) when about a dozen bees came dropping out of the openings (about 1 every 5 minutes for about an hour). I killed them and eventually got the mesh up. Just when I thought the worst was over, I went out for a few hours this afternoon and found 2 in the kitchen, 6 on the stairwell from the basement to the kitchen (near the door with a window in it), and another 5 in the basement. I opened the door and let the ones by the door fly out, and killed the other 10 or so. I reinspected the basement and put more mesh up and plugged a few other possible holes, but I can't be sure where they are coming from. In summary I killed about 15 of them before the exterminator came, and about 30 of them since. Obviously, their hole to the outside is plugged with poison dust so they are trying to find another way out and making their way into my house even faster than before, when the odd straggler came in. It's nighttime now so they are not very active. Fortunately none of us have been stung. 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? 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! |
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#5
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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! A vacuum cleaner would pick up the stray bees. Closing the points where they acess the house would be the first step, putting pesticides in the house with a pregnant wife would not be a first choice. I think the pesticide resmethrin would have been a better choice than ficam but I am not an exterminator. |
#6
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I have heard of people putting a powered up mower over a wasp nest in the ground.
I am surprised they didnt use smoke to just encourage the bees to move. you can use a vacuum cleaner ... put a few moth balls in the paper sack or dirt holder OR dont put it in the sack and dump the bees outside. a friend had a similar experience in her apt right before she moved out. I really do wonder about the nest full of honey and the fungus that will start to grow on the residue. Ingrid ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. |
#7
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We have had a few cases of people with honey bees building nests in walls
aand in a cieling. The nests were huge, especially the cieling one where it was so heavy it made the sheetrock sag about 4 feet down into the room. The people would find dead bees in the house and honey would drip from it. In all the cases they called some people who raised bees and they came and took the bees away. The people were left to clean up the hive. Personally I can't see why they left it so long it made the cieling sag to the point they couldn't walk under it. I imagine they had ants too with all that honey dripping around. It was on the news one night and the pictures of it kind of stuck in my mind, not to mention the sound of all those bees you could hear when the news crew were filming the hive. Shell (who is allergic to bees) wrote in message ... I have heard of people putting a powered up mower over a wasp nest in the ground. I am surprised they didnt use smoke to just encourage the bees to move. you can use a vacuum cleaner ... put a few moth balls in the paper sack or dirt holder OR dont put it in the sack and dump the bees outside. a friend had a similar experience in her apt right before she moved out. I really do wonder about the nest full of honey and the fungus that will start to grow on the residue. Ingrid ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. |
#8
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"Dirk Puslich" wrote in message om... Hello, I am looking for a few answers that I was hopign you could help me with. I live in Ontario, Canada, and have discovered that I have a nest of bumblebees living in the wall of my house. I am sure they are bumblebees (not honeybees, carpentar bees, etc.). I am guessing they are living in the insulation on the inside of of the brick wall where the basement was finished ( I can hear them buzzing). Unfortunately, many of them were making their way into the house. I have a dog, cat, and pregant wife who have never been stung so I had to call an exterminator. The exterminator used a white powder called Ficom D and sprayed it into the hole in the bricks (from the outside) where the bees were going. After a few hours most of the bees that were outside of the nest gave up and moved on. The exterminator (who was not too helpful in the advice department) used a misting bottle and sprayed something a little bit inside, close to where we thought the nest is but not right on it. We have a bunch of openings in the wall for access to the hot water pipes etc. The exterminator told me to get some screen door mesh and put it over these openings so the bees can't get out. Well, I got half way putting up the mesh (about an hour after the exterminator left) when about a dozen bees came dropping out of the openings (about 1 every 5 minutes for about an hour). I killed them and eventually got the mesh up. Just when I thought the worst was over, I went out for a few hours this afternoon and found 2 in the kitchen, 6 on the stairwell from the basement to the kitchen (near the door with a window in it), and another 5 in the basement. I opened the door and let the ones by the door fly out, and killed the other 10 or so. I reinspected the basement and put more mesh up and plugged a few other possible holes, but I can't be sure where they are coming from. In summary I killed about 15 of them before the exterminator came, and about 30 of them since. Obviously, their hole to the outside is plugged with poison dust so they are trying to find another way out and making their way into my house even faster than before, when the odd straggler came in. It's nighttime now so they are not very active. Fortunately none of us have been stung. 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? 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! My only episode of this type were honey bees who had taken up residence between the ceiling and second floor. An exterminator passed on the job and a bee keeper did no good either. I found the exit/entrance they were using and every day at dusk I would dust the inside with a garden duster with Sevin and sprinkle more at the entrance. It took a few days but it worked and when they dwindled to just a few bees, they left. Lotsa bee bodies on the ground. I'm surprised you haven't been stung yet. Are you sure they are not carpenter bees? The look somewhat alike but carpenter bees do not sting. Thaey don't even have a stinger. |
#9
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"James" wrote in message ... "Dirk Puslich" wrote in message om... Hello, I am looking for a few answers that I was hopign you could help me with. I live in Ontario, Canada, and have discovered that I have a nest of bumblebees living in the wall of my house. I am sure they are bumblebees (not honeybees, carpentar bees, etc.). I am guessing they are living in the insulation on the inside of of the brick wall where the basement was finished ( I can hear them buzzing). Unfortunately, many of them were making their way into the house. I have a dog, cat, and pregant wife who have never been stung so I had to call an exterminator. The exterminator used a white powder called Ficom D and sprayed it into the hole in the bricks (from the outside) where the bees were going. After a few hours most of the bees that were outside of the nest gave up and moved on. The exterminator (who was not too helpful in the advice department) used a misting bottle and sprayed something a little bit inside, close to where we thought the nest is but not right on it. We have a bunch of openings in the wall for access to the hot water pipes etc. The exterminator told me to get some screen door mesh and put it over these openings so the bees can't get out. Well, I got half way putting up the mesh (about an hour after the exterminator left) when about a dozen bees came dropping out of the openings (about 1 every 5 minutes for about an hour). I killed them and eventually got the mesh up. Just when I thought the worst was over, I went out for a few hours this afternoon and found 2 in the kitchen, 6 on the stairwell from the basement to the kitchen (near the door with a window in it), and another 5 in the basement. I opened the door and let the ones by the door fly out, and killed the other 10 or so. I reinspected the basement and put more mesh up and plugged a few other possible holes, but I can't be sure where they are coming from. In summary I killed about 15 of them before the exterminator came, and about 30 of them since. Obviously, their hole to the outside is plugged with poison dust so they are trying to find another way out and making their way into my house even faster than before, when the odd straggler came in. It's nighttime now so they are not very active. Fortunately none of us have been stung. 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? 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! My only episode of this type were honey bees who had taken up residence between the ceiling and second floor. An exterminator passed on the job and a bee keeper did no good either. I found the exit/entrance they were using and every day at dusk I would dust the inside with a garden duster with Sevin and sprinkle more at the entrance. It took a few days but it worked and when they dwindled to just a few bees, they left. Lotsa bee bodies on the ground. I'm surprised you haven't been stung yet. Are you sure they are not carpenter bees? The look somewhat alike but carpenter bees do not sting. Thaey don't even have a stinger. Sevin does a good job of geting rid of bees and wasp. You can usually dust it right on a wasp nest without upsetting them. I like the 10% kind when I can find it. |
#11
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Get in touch with the pest control licensing agency and talk to someone there.
If the operator did something wrong, someone on the licensing staff will take action. Here in North Carolina, the Structural Pest Control Board is located in the State Department of Agriculture. |
#12
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In sci.agriculture.beekeeping Dirk Puslich wrote:
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. One thing I would suggest is not to use a newspaper to try and kill bees or wasps. In my experience, they are pretty hard to crush, and wacking at them just makes them mad. A much safer method of dispatching bees or wasps is with a good pair of scissors. Just creep up on them, and *snip*, all done. A clean hit will cut them in half, making them harmless. And if you miss, you probably will barely even disturb them, while a partial hit is likely to cut off a wing so that they can't come after you even if they want to. If you are good, you can even cut them in half in midair! This really does work. I've killed hundreds of wasps this way, and never had one of them come after me. In contrast, the few times I tried a rolled-up newspaper or flyswatter, they *always* came after me. -- Tim Eisele |
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#14
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On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 11:13:32 -0400, "James" wrote:
I'm surprised you haven't been stung yet. Are you sure they are not carpenter bees? The look somewhat alike but carpenter bees do not sting. Thaey don't even have a stinger. It's only the male carpenter bee (other bees too) that has no stinger ...the females can sting but normally won't. Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!! It is said that the early bird gets the worm, but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese. |
#15
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I was saddened by the aweful situation you and your wife are in. I
hope you're all okay. Bumble bees are generally very easy going compared with honeybees and some wasps. They'd have to be really harassed before stinging. I'm sure bumping against a window all day would have ****ed them off. They probably wouldn't have gone into your house at all if their nest entrance wasn't plugged. At this time of the year, as you've noticed, new ones are emerging from their hives to mate and hibernate. Bumble bee colonies, unlike honey bee colonies are formed yearly. They leave their nests in autumn to mate then hibernate. They usually hibernate under trees and shrubs so in future, wait until October when all the new bees will have emerged and left. Once gone, get some expanding foam and caulking to seal their former nest entrance. Here's a good site for info on bumble bees: http://www.bumblebee.org/ |
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