Re: honeybees in wood siding

It's pretty late in the season for bees to swarm and take up a new home.
Where do you live?  If it's only been 10 weeks since they started and your
winters are pretty cold with no nectar or pollen, then it's not likely
they'll survive through the winter.  If you want to kill them, just wait for
a cold day (in the low 40s or 30s ºF and puff some Seven Dust as deep inside
the cavity as possible.  I know a man that uses a pressure tank with a long
metal tube to get inside walls.  I'm sure you can rig up a squeeze bottle
with a tube on it.  You might have to do it more than once.  Normally, I
wouldn't recommend killing them, but given the short time they've been
there, the amount of honey and comb shouldn't be very large.  If you want
keep bees out, you'll need to fix your siding so no more can move in this
Spring - and they certainly will if you don't.  A word of caution, protect
your face and head with some screen or fine mesh cloth that doesn't fit
close to the skin.  Tape the bottom edges to you cloths around your
shoulders.  You probably won't need it, but it's always a good idea to
protect yourself.

(West Texas) Mark


"D. anon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hello.

About 10 weeks ago some honeybees took up residence behind a siding board on
our house. I don't think they are inside the wall, just behind a board that
had pulled away a crack from the board below it. There is a constant stream
of bees moving in and out during the day. Intially the bees were swarming on
the siding itself, but I swabbed kerosene on the area and swarming stopped.
But the kerosene did not keep bees from moving in and out of the crack.

Bees that have fallen to the ground are drones (no stingers). None have been
aggressive.

I tried swabbing citronella oil around the crack. This keeps the bees
hovering in a great mob for a while, but eventually they begin moving in and
out again.

Is there any way to get these bees to move elsewhere short of pulling the
siding off and physically moving the queen?

Thanks,
D.