The Honey Bee benefits the economy immensely. Honey Bees produce millions of dollars worth of honey and beeswax, in addition to pollinate commercial fruits, vegetables, and field crops.
Notwithstanding, by establishing a colony in a house, building, or hollow tree next to the home, Honey Bees may become a nuisance or hazard to humans. Some individuals have severe allergic reactions to the sting of a Honey Bee. Although it is not unlawful to destroy Honey Bees, it’s always best to save them when possible. Identification
Honey Bees are characterized by the presence of a long, pointed tongue, social habit, front wings with three closed submarginal cells, and no spurs at the tips of the hind Tibiae (4th segment of the insect’s leg). Adults consist of three castes – queens (3/5- to 3/4-inch long) are fully created egg layers with only one in each colony; drones (3/4- to 5/8-inch long) are functional males; and workers (2/5- to 3/5-inch long) are undeveloped females.
The first Honey Bees introduced from Europe were black German bees. The common Ohio variety of Honey Bee is the Italian, which is a golden-brown and black bee covered with short, dense hair. The forepart of the abdomen is yellow and there’s some yellow between the four brown bands on the rest of the abdomen.
The Caucasian variety, a mild-tempered bee, is dark, and its stomach is banded with gray. The carniolan is a gray bee similar in appearance to Caucasian. Most individuals see only the workers, which regularly fly in and out of the nest.
Honey Bee Life Cycle and Habits
The Queen
The queen is the only female in the honey bee colony capable of laying fertilized eggs. She is extremely important, because without her no young honey bees would be replacing the old honey bees as they die. The rest of the honey bees pay a lot of attention to her. There’s only one queen to each bee colony, and she may live two to five years. She should be fed by the others in the honey bee colony, and she can do none of the rest of the chores that need to be accomplished to make honey and keep a clean nest.
The Drone
Drones are male honey bees within the honey bee colony. There may be several hundred drones in the spring and summer, but they are all eliminated in the fall and winter when their services are no longer wanted. The drone develops from unfertilized eggs and exists only to fertilize or mate with young queens. He typically lives 40 to 50 days, and is larger than either the queen or workers.
The Worker
The majority of honey bees in colony are worker honey bees. They perform most of the functions honey bees are known for, such as making honey and stinging for defense. Although workers are females, they can’t lay fertilized eggs. There may be as many as 60,000 workers in a colony, though the typicalfigure for the whole year is 30,000.
Workers live only 40 days in the summer, but may live a few months during winter. Some gather nectar and pollen in the field; others process the honey. Usually, the workers perform their duties based on age. The younger ones are cleaners and helpers. The older, more experienced honey bees, are builders and do the foraging in the field.
The nest is the comb on which the honey bees rest, rear brood, and store honey. The comb is constructed of wax. It’s a central rib, with six-sided cells constructed on each side parallel to the ground. The cells are the storage area for the bee colony and at the same time serve as the nursery for rearing young honey bees.
The life cycle of the brood is egg (3 days), larva (6 days), pupa (12 days) for a total of 21 days from egg to adult worker. This cycle is longer (24 days) for drones and shorter (16 days) for queens.
Honey Bee Removal from Walls
An established Honey Bee colony will on occasion divide itself, and one or more swarms will leave the hive. The new swarm may cluster for a while on a tree limb or bush near the old hive while scout honey bees search for a suitable place to establish a new home. Normally scout honey bees find a hollow tree, but occasionally they will select the wall voids of a home. Unfortunately, honey bees may nest in the wall or attic some distance from where they enter the wall.
Carbaryl (Sevin) 5% Dust is an insecticide registered to exterminate honey bees from dwellings. When it is not applied properly, persistent efforts could be needed to lastly accomplish the job. Sevin dusted into the bee entrance may not reach the nest, which could be some distance from the entrance.
Foraging honey bees passing through the dusted area will be killed, but the queen and house honey bees that stay home to take care of brood and tend to the nest may continue to live for some time. When house honey bees (young honey bees that remain in the hive) mature to take on field work chores, the honey bee colony may recover, unless the insecticide treatment is reapplied. Quicker and surer results will be received when the nest itself is treated.
The nest can be located sometimes by tapping the wall with a hammer and listening for an answering buzz from the honey bees. When the nest is located, a hole might be bored, preferably through the outside wall, so insecticide can be applied onto the nest.
Established swarms are comprised of more honey bees, more comb, and more honey. Established colonies are best killed in late winter or early spring when their population is smallest. Treatment is effective when done in the very early spring, like February or March, when stored honey is at its lowest level and the bee population is lowest and weakest.
New swarms are more easily killed soon after they enter the building. The best time of day to apply the insecticide is late afternoon when all the honey bees are at home. The honey bees will be less cross on nice days than when the weather is overcast or rainy. Do not plug the hole immediately after dusting the nest because this may force the agitated honey bees into the living quarters of the home.
Bees will find or make unused or new exits, at times indoors. Besides that, Honey Bees may be killed by exposing the nest to freezing temperatures during the winter.
After the honey bees are killed, remove the nest when at all possible, without causing excessive structural damage. Destroy the comb and honey, particularly when they were treated with insecticide. When the nest is not removed, the wax cells may melt or be riddled by wax moths and leak honey. Excess honey may seep through interior walls and ceilings, leaving permanent stains.
Wax combs near the inside walls of a chimney are fire hazards. The comb and its contents may melt when exposed to hot summer temperatures without honey bees to keep it cool, particularly in walls facing the south.
After a dead colony has been removed and the structural damage caused in removing the honey bee colony has been repaired, clean the area thoroughly with soap and hot water. Paint and carefully plug all entrances through which the other possible bee swarms might enter. Odors left by the killed colony can linger for a long time and attract other swarming honey bees.
Pest control companies might be contacted to destroy the honey bees if needed. Although killing adult honey bees is ordinarily fairly easy, removal of the comb and honey can be very challenging. It might be useful to have a beekeeper and carpenter or beekeeper with carpenter abilities present to assist.
Bees from other colonies can also be a nuisance around the home as long as honey remains to be robbed from the killed colony. Scavenging insects, such as carpet beetles, wax moths, ants, or flies, are also attracted to killed bee colonies.
Even if you are not sensitive to stings and are experienced in extermination work, it is best to be protected from distracting stings when exterminating honey bees. You could be in precarious positions, such as on a ladder or on a roof, with stinging honey bees present. At least wear a beekeeper’s veil and leather gloves.
A bee smoker is valuable to help calm the honey bees and lessen their tendency to sting.
Honey Bee Removal by Trapping
Honey Bees may be removed effectively by trapping; nonetheless, the process takes four to six weeks. While it solves the problem of opening up the wall and removing the comb and honey, it may not be appropriate when family members are allergic to bee stings.
To trap, place a wire mesh cone (18-inches long with 3/8-inch opening at the apex) over the nest entrance hole. Place a hive containing a queen and a few workers as close as possible to the “trap.”
The honey bees can leave the building, but they can’t get back in and will settle in the decoy hive. In three to four weeks, spray the old nest with a nonresidual insecticide, such as resmethrin, to kill the queen and any remaining workers. Then remove the trap and allow the honey bees in the decoy hive to go back in the building to retrieve their honey. Two weeks later, remove the hive and close up the nest entrance.
Destroy the honey if the honey bee colony has been poisoned with an insecticide. Trapping is typically not practical and results might be unsatisfactory. Few beekeepers are interested in trapping. Established swarms (those with comb) cannot be gathered easily like the free-hanging temporary swarms and are typically not economical for a beekeeper to remove.
Honey Bee Swarm Control Measures
Allowing swarms of Honey Bees to leave on their own is often the best approach. A swarm of honey bees will remain clustered until scout honey bees have located a suitable site for permanent nesting. In two days or less, the swarm will normally break the cluster and fly away.
When it’s necessary to remove a swarm, make sure to contact a local beekeeper, who ordinarily will be glad to get the swarm of honey bees and provide them a new home. Names of beekeepers willing to take swarms are available aCounty Extension Offices.
Although not advised, the swarm could be killed or eliminated when sprayed, from a distance, with a resmethrin-based wasp and hornet spray, or with carbaryl (Sevin) or propoxur (Baygon). Wear protective clothing with bee veil when possible, and leave the area quickly after treatment. Spraying makes honey bees mad.
Honey Bees Insecticides
Treat nests with dusts of carbaryl (Apicide, Sevin), bendiocarb (Ficam D), or pyrethrins (Microcare), or sprays of Sevin, diazinon, or propoxur (Baygon). Sprays may not penetrate the nest well enough to give good control.
Additional insecticide formulations that only the licensed pest control operator are able to use include acephate (Orthene), bendiocarb (Ficam W), bendiocarb plus pyrethrins (Ficam Plus), bifenthrin (Biflex), cyfluthrin (Tempo), fenthion (Baytex 4), pyrethrins (Exciter, Kicker, Pyrenone), cypermethrin (Cynoff, Cyper-Active, Demon, Vikor), chlorpyrifos (Dursban), deltamethrin (Suspend), permethrin (Dragnet, Flee, Prelude), resmethrin (Synthrin, Respond), and tralomethrin (Saga).
