Bees or Wasps in wall?

[Lamb]

We had an exterminator come out today because I thought we had bees up in the attic. He checked and couldn't see them there but we could hear the noises in the entryway of my house. He suggested I call a bigger company that could remove the soffit vent where they're getting in and try to figure out where the nest is. He isn't insured to do that and so tomorrow another company will call me back.

Did you ever have bees or wasps in your wall or attic? How did you resolve it?

 

[tango]

We had an exterminator come out today because I thought we had bees up in the attic. He checked and couldn't see them there but we could hear the noises in the entryway of my house. He suggested I call a bigger company that could remove the soffit vent where they're getting in and try to figure out where the nest is. He isn't insured to do that and so tomorrow another company will call me back.

Did you ever have bees or wasps in your wall or attic? How did you resolve it?

Never had them in a cavity space. I did have blue mud wasps nesting around a shed window so I sprayed them with foam and soon found a lot of dead wasps.

If you have honeybees you could talk to a local beekeeper to see if they will come and remove them for you. If it's carpenter bees or wasps you'll need something more drastic.

 

[Tigger]

We’ve only had hornets. I say only because they make a smaller nest are usually not so deep in the wall that you can’t get rid of them yourself.

 

[Lamb]

All right...it's been a week since I first started calling exterminators. The first guy said to call a bigger company and I did that and it took them all this time to come out. The only reason they came out today instead of next week is because I kept calling them with updates such as the noise was getting louder, then I saw two holes where the ceiling meets the wall and then I saw a wet stain begin on the ceiling. We slept in the basement last night on the floor on mats and this morning the pest control guys were 40 minutes late. During that time the wasps were coming into the home! I opened the door calmly to let them outside and then we waited outside until the work was all done.

The hive is dead. The queen is dead! We feel safe once again.

 

[tango]

What sort of wasps were they?

 

[Lamb]

What sort of wasps were they?

Yellow Jackets.

 

[tango]

Yellow Jackets.

I found a nest of them in my yard. They had taken over an abandoned vole hole. I sprayed my blowtorch in there and killed a few, and found a load of them flying around so they obviously got out through another hole. I got some spray foam and sprayed it into the hole, and topped it up everytime another one of them flew in, then hit them with the blowtorch again.

So far I think I've killed about 30 of them. There are still several flying around but the numbers are dropping. It's kinda fun to kill them with the blowtorch. Probably not the most effective tool but they don't last long. If you hit them in the air they literally drop out and curl up.

 

[Josiah]

The day we moved into our house, I heard much buzzing at the fireplace. The guys with the moving company told me I had a bee hive in there. So, I just turned on the gas as much as possible..... and opened to flue.... and away they went up the top. But I had to call a company to clean out the chimney (and they put a heavy screen on the top to stop a return.) I didn't think to contact the insurance company... they may have covered it.

We also had a hive in a wall of my church. We had to call bee keepers.... we busted the wall open and he used smoke to drive them out. Then we had to clean out the wall (or they will try to return) and make sure it was now sealed. Insurance covered the cost (minus deductible)


Sorry, but you likely will need professionals.... and this will cost you.


Good luck!


- Josiah



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[Josiah]

I sprayed my blowtorch

Sounds like fun!!!

You don't mess around, do you?



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[tango]

Sounds like fun!!!

You don't mess around, do you?



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If the bugs need to be gone they need to be gone.... can't be taking prisoners! I didn't expect this to be a use for MAPP gas but it's kinda fun.

If not for the fact the wasps obviously have multiple exits from their nest I was ready to pour something like acetone into the large hole and throw in a match, but I figure the chances are I'd have a crazy fire underground for a few seconds, probably not kill many of the wasps, and be no further forward. It's also sufficiently explosively flammable I'd want to have a good handle on just where the tunnels go underground so I didn't find a jet of flame underneath me.

On a note that's more practical than pyromanic, even if less fun, I might try putting a hose down the hole and flooding them out.

 

[tango]

I sprayed the rest of my can of wasp killer into the hole this afternoon. I killed another half a dozen or so, including one that startled me and that got shot itself down with a jet of foam from my can. Didn't need the blowtorch today, having sprayed foam into the hole there were only maybe half a dozen wasps flying around. Hopefully that means I've either destroyed enough of the population they aren't a problem any more, or I've made them feel sufficiently unsafe they decided to nest somewhere else.

Next up is either another blast of the blowtorch or flooding them out. Not sure which yet. The water seems like it could be more effective. Another option is to use a smoke bomb to find the other holes, block the other holes, and then another smoke bomb to kill them all.

 

[Lamb]

I sprayed the rest of my can of wasp killer into the hole this afternoon. I killed another half a dozen or so, including one that startled me and that got shot itself down with a jet of foam from my can. Didn't need the blowtorch today, having sprayed foam into the hole there were only maybe half a dozen wasps flying around. Hopefully that means I've either destroyed enough of the population they aren't a problem any more, or I've made them feel sufficiently unsafe they decided to nest somewhere else.

Next up is either another blast of the blowtorch or flooding them out. Not sure which yet. The water seems like it could be more effective. Another option is to use a smoke bomb to find the other holes, block the other holes, and then another smoke bomb to kill them all.

Have you read about using dishwashing liquid? Since it's a hold in the ground it's easier to use than other areas would be.

 

[tango]

Have you read about using dishwashing liquid? Since it's a hold in the ground it's easier to use than other areas would be.

No, I hadn't considered that. It's worth a thought, especially since I can use something that's friendlier to the ground and the nearby streams than acetone or diesel not to mention a lot cheaper. It doesn't sound like it's as much fun as a blowtorch, but a blowtorch isn't the most efficient way of dealing with them.

 

[Lamb]

No, I hadn't considered that. It's worth a thought, especially since I can use something that's friendlier to the ground and the nearby streams than acetone or diesel not to mention a lot cheaper. It doesn't sound like it's as much fun as a blowtorch, but a blowtorch isn't the most efficient way of dealing with them.

Yeah, it's not as exciting but then again you don't have to worry about catching yourself or anything else on fire.

 

[tango]

Yeah, it's not as exciting but then again you don't have to worry about catching yourself or anything else on fire.

The biggest concern with using something like acetone in the hole is not knowing where the flames might emerge from the ground. If there is a queen in the nest I want her dead, I just don't want to find I blew honking great holes in the back yard or lit a jet of flame underneath myself to achieve it.

 

[Lamb]

The other day I trimmed the bushes in the front landscape and I saw what I thought was a leaf and ignored it...it turns out that the thing isn't a leaf but a black wasp nest. They didn't even attack me when I was trimming the bush! So weird. But the nest is getting very big and that concerns me so now I'm just going to buy some wasp and hornet spray that shoots 20 feet. I'm not taking my chances.

 

[Tigger]

The other day I trimmed the bushes in the front landscape and I saw what I thought was a leaf and ignored it...it turns out that the thing isn't a leaf but a black wasp nest. They didn't even attack me when I was trimming the bush! So weird. But the nest is getting very big and that concerns me so now I'm just going to buy some wasp and hornet spray that shoots 20 feet. I'm not taking my chances.

That’s what I do in those situations but I wait until dark, when they are settled in, spray and make a ‘bee line’ (sorry couldn’t help myself) and sprint to safety.

 

[tango]

The other day I trimmed the bushes in the front landscape and I saw what I thought was a leaf and ignored it...it turns out that the thing isn't a leaf but a black wasp nest. They didn't even attack me when I was trimming the bush! So weird. But the nest is getting very big and that concerns me so now I'm just going to buy some wasp and hornet spray that shoots 20 feet. I'm not taking my chances.

The stuff I used will spray some silly distance and stick to the nest. The instructions say to spray it in the early evening when they are least active - you want to destroy the nest while all the wasps are in it.

I think it's the blue ones (they look black until the sun hits them, when they look metallic dark blue) that don't sting. They still die if they nest anywhere I see them.

I think my underground nest is gone, we haven't seen any wasps hovering around this afternoon. I think I may have decimated their population while they were looking for a nesting site, so perhaps they took the hint and decided to go somewhere else. If I see their numbers rising again I'll do something more aggressive to them.

 

[Lamb]

Yeah, I have to wait until the store opens before I can run out and get the spray and then I'll do it real quick and let them die before I set up to spray the landscape with the other chemical.