Bees nest

[John Terefenko]

Noticed a small crack between the concrete steps and the base of the house on the back patio steps leading out the house. Saw bees flying in and out so I have been spraying them and killing them off. Been spraying with Spectricide yellow jacket/ carpenter bees killer and it kills on contact. By now I have killed at least 60 bees but they still keep coming. How do I solve this problem. If i try to seal this up will any remaining bees now make other holes to escape. I will eventually need to seal but when should I try that?? Looking for suggestions. Wait till winter?? Thanks.

[Mike Henderson]

You can kill honey bees with a soapy water solution. Get a spray bottle and mix some Dawn detergent with water. Spray on bees. You probably can't get the bees out from that area so about the only thing you can do is seal up the opening, which will kill the hive. It's possible they will find another way out, and if so, you'll have to close that opening also.

If the bees have been there a long time, they'll have honey and brood under the steps. After you kill the hive, that will attract ants.

We'd like to save bees but sometimes they're in places where you just can't get to them.

Mike

[John K Jordan]

Noticed a small crack between the concrete steps and the base of the house on the back patio steps leading out the house. Saw bees flying in and out so I have been spraying them and killing them off. Been spraying with Spectricide yellow jacket/ carpenter bees killer and it kills on contact. By now I have killed at least 60 bees but they still keep coming. How do I solve this problem. If i try to seal this up will any remaining bees now make other holes to escape. I will eventually need to seal but when should I try that?? Looking for suggestions. Wait till winter?? Thanks.

What kind of bees? Do you have a closeup photo?

If they are actually yellow jackets the nest could be huge, thousands of insects. Yellow jackets typically hollow out a cavity underground but I've had them get into walls and other hollow places. I just pumped the cavity full of wasp/hornet spray. Took several cans. Out away from the house the "pour gasoline in the hole and light it" method is effective but I wouldn't try that near the house.

I'd probably try dousing through the exit hole at night they are all inside. The foaming type of spray might be better since it may expand somewhat into the cavity.

When I need to get the spray through a small hole I like to put a plastic tube on the can, they kind of red tube used on WD-40, etc. The tubes are too big for the hole in the button on the can so I enlarge it with a drill bit to give a snug fit. Then insert the tube as far as possible and spray away. (I have to do this every year when wasps build nests inside the horizontal metal tubes of corral panels - their access is through small drainage holes where the horizontal tubes are welded to the verticals.

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

Mike's suggestion for a soapy water mixture is good for many kinds of bees and wasps...we used that for a hornet's nest two years ago that was threatening our honey bees and the resident beek.

It's very true that in the best case, a honey bee colony that's captured and relocated is the ideal remedy, but that's not always possible, especially with a concrete structure like you mention. With a home's walls, soffits, etc., a "cut out" can be done, but not with a solid block of concrete.

[Matt Day]

I just sprayed some wasps (which are not bees btw) in a recessed can light on our front porch. Killed some but not all. Finally found some foaming spray at Ace and it worked great.

[John K Jordan]

I just sprayed some wasps (which are not bees btw) in a recessed can light on our front porch. Killed some but not all. Finally found some foaming spray at Ace and it worked great.

I once started to put up an extension ladder to remove an old satellite dish high on the house when I noticed it was had been embedded within a huge hornet's nest. Ack! I imagined the drama that would unfold if I had disturbed a bald faced hornet's nest while high on a ladder...

I put the ladder up, waited until dark, donned a protective suit I use for the beehives, climbed up close, and used 5 cans of wasp/hornet spray up close. BTW, the liquid and pressure of the non-foaming formula that claims 27' reach will soften and penetrate to the center of a large paper nest in short order.

JKJ