Responsible Bee Pest Control: What You Need To Know

Pollinators like honey bees, bumble bees, and carpenter bees play valuable roles in our ecosystems. They float from flower to flower, pollinating fruit, vegetable, nut, and other plants, providing food. But these buzzy little friends have been declining in numbers for years, meaning they need protection. This guide on responsible pest control methods for bees will highlight some of the most important ways we can protect these pollinators while also getting rid of bees before they can damage or sting anyone.

Get to know the different types of bees

While there are thousands of bee types, there are three types of bees that we deal with most often in our US backyards, including honey bees, carpenter bees, and bumble bees. They’re all pollinators, but they’re very different in some aspects.

Honey bees

Honey bees are small bees, measuring between ½ and ⅝-inch in length. The Western honey bees and European honey bee are the most commonly found in the US, and they are typically brown and black and have soft-looking, fuzzy bodies. 

Honey bees are social bees so they live in large hives that can contain thousands and thousands of worker bees, drone bees, and an egg-laying queen bee. They typically build their hives in tree cavities and other protected areas but have been known to enter homes and build comb in ceilings and walls. 

Honey bee females can sting, but they have a barbed stinger that sticks into the victim’s skin and then pull out their abdomens. For this reason, most honey bee species have learned to avoid the fight if they can, but they will defend their bee colony with all their strength. Unlike some stinging insects, they’re relatively docile.

Honey bees are incredibly beneficial bees, and they’re critical to our ecosystem. As they collect pollen and nectar to bring home for food stores, they pollinate the flowers they’re landing on. A professional pest control company mustn’t kill a colony of honey bees for this reason.

Bumble bees

Bumble bees are large, round bees, measuring around ¾-inch in length. They have black and yellow patterns on their backs and feature fuzzy bodies. They bounce from flower to flower and hardly notice people or animals around them, making them rather harmless bees.

Bumble bees are social, so they live in large bee colonies consisting of between 20 and 1,000 bees, but many experts disagree on this point. They are either workers, males (who do not work), and or the queen bee. They typically build these nests underground.

Female bumble bees, or workers, do have stingers and can administer a very painful sting. However, they’re typically docile as long as you don’t disturb their nest. Also, like honey bees, it’s important that pest control services do not kill these bees. 

Carpenter bees

Carpenter bees are very large, measuring up to 1 inch in length. They have yellow hairs on their back and shiny black abdomens. It’s this shiny black abdomen that makes telling these bees apart from bumble bees easy.

Carpenter bees are not social. They bore nests into wood structures like fence posts, decks, railings, fascia boards, and other similar wooden surfaces. Their nest exit hole is so perfectly gnawed that they often look like drilled hoses,

These bees live in small groups, often consisting of just the male, female, and offspring. They dig what are known as “galleries,” or tunnels where they can lay eggs safely within the structure of the wood. Their tendency to bore into these wood members is what classifies them as a “wood-destroying insect.”

Female carpenter bees can sting but rarely do so. Male drones do not sting, but will aggressively dive onto the head of anything that comes too close to the nest, whether it be a person or animal. It’s often these attacks that clue people into their presence, trigging a call to a bee control company.

Carpenter bees are pollinators, but carpenter bees can also cause as much damage as they create. They bore into wood structures like decks, fences, sheds, and fascia boards on houses to build their nests. As each generation hatches, they bore further and further into the wood, weakening it and causing serious damage. For these reasons, professional pest control services will exterminate carpenter bees. 

How to Remove a Bee Hive

If you have a bee’s nest on your property that’s causing issues, you should call a professional pest control company. A pest control company will often provide a free consultation to assess which types of bees you’re dealing with and help you come up with a plan to remove them. 

Honey bee nest removal

If you have a honey bee hive to deal with, you should reach out to a local beekeeper. Very often, they’ll remove the bees for free. They’ll search for the queen, catch her, place her in a box, and wait for the rest of the bees to follow, removing the colony and solving your bee problem.

Once they’re safe in the box, the beekeeper will bring them back to their honey farm and place them in a hive where they can be safely relocated.

This is an oversimplified version of the bee removal process, but it’s important to note that 30,000 bees may stand between the keeper and the queen, so this requires a lot of experience.

Bumble bee nest removal

Bumble bee nest removals can be tricky, especially when they’re underground and folks who are trying not to kill bees. A professional bee removal service will set up a trap with bait to lure the bumble bees from the nest. Once all the bumble bees enter the trap, they’ll remove them and bring them to another site. 

It’s best to do this at night, as bumble bees won’t fly at night. However, keep in mind that bumble bee stings are some of the most painful bee stings. 

Carpenter bee removal

Carpenter bees are considerably less difficult to take care of. Since their nests are smaller with far fewer inhabitants, DIYers can eliminate carpenter bees themselves or hire a pest control service.

Many companies will use insecticide dusts or sprays applied directly into the nest. Others may opt for traps, designed to lure carpenter bees where they die. DIYers can also employ both of these tactics. 

How To Prevent Bees

There are some ways that homeowners can prevent bees from becoming an issue:

• Seal up any gaps around the windows, doors, fascia, and eaves where honey bees can get into the home.
• Replacing wood material with vinyl, composite, or metal materials
• Use pressure-treated, cedar, or redwood for outdoor projects. Be sure to stain or paint the wood as carpenter bees don’t like treated wood. 
• Burn citronella candles when you’re outside, as bees do not like the scent
• Spray wood with a preventative treatment made of water and citrus or almond oils 

Also, bumble bees and honey bees are sugar-motivated, so sweets like soda cans, juice, and leftover desserts will attract them. Make sure to take the garbage out frequently and clean the garbage can often. Also, remove any fruit fallen from fruit trees in the yard to prevent them from rotting and becoming nutrient-rich resources for bees. 

You can also use landscaping to deter bees. Planting marigolds and geraniums will deter bees, as can basil plants.

FAQS

That’s quite a bit of background on bees and their pest control details. However, there may still be some additional questions that need answering. The following are some of the most common questions on controlling pest bees.

Can pest control get rid of bees?

Yes, pest control companies can help homeowners get rid of bees. If they are detrimental species like carpenter bees, the pest control professional will kill the bees. However, if they are beneficial species like honey bees and bumble bees, they may be able to help the homeowner identify the species and find someone who will remove them safely without killing bees.

How do you get rid of a bee infestation?

It’s important to first determine which type of bee you’re dealing with. Honey bees and bumble bees need to be removed safely and responsibly by an expert with bee removal experience (usually a beekeeper). However, pest species like carpenter bees are often killed in their nests to prevent them from causing any more damage.

What do exterminators spray for bees?

Generally speaking, pest control professionals will spray pyrethroid-based insecticides (a pesticide that kills bees instantly) such as permethrin or cyfluthrin, as well as carbaryl (Sevin) or chlorpyrifos (Dursban). These sprays last about 2 weeks, which is enough time to kill the carpenter bee and hopefully any emerging larvae. 

How do I get rid of bees in my house?

Call a pest control company for bees in the house. They’ll be able to identify whether the bees are a beneficial species like honey bees, in which case you should not exterminate them. However, if they’re a pest species like carpenter bees and some wasps or hornets, these pros will help remove the infestation and help identify ways the homeowner can keep them from coming back.