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• Bees

Honeybee

The Honeybee can become a serious pest when it establishes a nest within a structure. Problems result when a swarm of wild bees locates a small opening in an exterior wall, chimney or behind some flashing of a home then nests in a wall void or some other interior area. Honeybee nests are made up of many wax cells which the workers construct and reserves of honey is stored. It is important to remove all wax and honey in addition to eliminating the honeybees themselves of the colony has had a chance to produce the product. If at all possible, a local beekeeper should be contacted to make an effort to relocate the colony.

Bumblebee

Bumblebees are social insects which generally nest underground. They do not make holes or tunnels in wood, but will nest in abandoned mouse burrows under piles of grass clippings or leaves, stones, logs or other such locations. Bumblebees sometimes make their way into structures and nest in the insulation material in attics or crawl spaces.

Wasps, Hornets and Yellowjackets

Wasps, Hornets and Yellowjackets are social insects which build nests of paper-like material, called carton, which is a mixture of wood fibers and the salivary secretions of the female wasp. The only members of the colony to over winter are inseminated queens. Queens are inactive during the winter, hiding in protective areas under tree bark, or in stone walls, attics, or other sheltered places. They emerge during the first warm days of spring, select a nest sire, and build a small paper nest in which they lay their eggs. When the eggs hatch, the queen feeds the young larvae for about 18-20 days. The larvae then pupate and later emerge as small, infertile females called workers. Once the first five to seven workers appear, they take over the rearing and feeding of the brood. The queen rarely leaves the nest from this point on. Depending upon the species, there may be up to 4,000 workers with a nest of 10,000 to 12,000 cells when maximum size is attained in September. About this time, reproductive cells are built and new males and queens are produced. They emerge, mate, the males soon die, and the mated queens seek sheltered overwintering sites. The abandoned nests are not used again and rapidly decompose and disintegrate during the winter.

Paper Wasps

Paper wasps usually build their nests suspended beneath horizontal surfaces, and commonly hang from eaves of houses and beneath window ledges or porch roofs. Hornets build grayish-brown carton structures which resemble a very large inverted tear drop. They are often seen hanging from a tree branch, in a bush, or in the eaves of a roof. Most Yellowjackets build their nests underground in a void cavity space. The German Yellowjacket will also nest in wall voids, attics or crawl spaces; and it uses some available hole or crack in the exterior facing of the building as an entry point.