Roles of Bees
Certain species of bees can become pests in and around homes. Some species are important primarily because of their ability to inflict stings, while others may also cause structural damage as a result of their nest-building activities.
How Do Bees Get In Your Home?
Most bees are beneficial, and most of the time, they can be removed and relocated. That is always the first best choice. Bees can be relocated when they are more easily accessible such as clumped up in a ball in a tree or going into an H block void on a block fence. Occasionally the bees cannot be removed due to variable factors.
Bees can become entrenched inside a wall void, other structural components, utility box, or other difficult to access area. The queen will find a small opening to gain access to the inaccessible area. The drones will follow her in and begin to pack the void area with honeycombs. When bees are entrenched in this fashion, they cannot be removed. The queen would have to be smoked out, and that is not going to happen through ½ inch in an inaccessible area.
If the inaccessible area is ripped open to try and get to the queen, it will destroy the hive in the process.
Bee Removal
Anteater Exterminating always advises giving the bees a chance to move on. If the hive causes a public safety concern or is entrenched, treatment may be required. Anteater tries to treat through the opening the bees are using to access the inaccessible area. 90% of the time that works, and it is the least destructive option, so we always try that avenue first. If that fails, a more destructive option may be required. Once the hive is treated, the left-over honeycombs will biodegrade naturally over time. Generally, it is best just to let mother nature take care of it.
Alternatively, if you do decide to have the honeycombs extracted, Anteater Exterminating always recommends a licensed building contractor. They can open the wall, avoid electrical and plumbing lines, and repair it to its original state. They can do this once the bees are for sure inactive.
What kinds of Bees are there?
Large black bees are usually carpenter bees. They will burrow into unfinished or exposed wood. Carpenter bees do not eat the wood; rather, they just nest in it. They are easily treated, then the holes they created are patched. If the exposed wood is painted over and treated correctly, the carpenter bees will not infest it agarin. Wood piles and other wood can be store away from the home to mitigate the carpenter bees.