Bees

[Vorret]

I have bees under my shed, I don't know exactly where the nest is but it's there.
How can I get rid of it? Spray isn't really a good idea, the opening is only a few inches high and the nest could be in the middle of the shed (12x10).
I don't have a jack to lift it either.

Is there something I can... I dunno, slide under there that would kill everything, even if it takes a week?

[Isgrimnur]

You call someone to remove them.

[Jeff V]

Fire works best. If your shed happens to be flammable, bring some marshmallows.

[J.D.]

Can you seal off the openings so they can't get in or out?

[Vorret]

You call someone to remove them.

Well, they might not be honey bees?
Heck maybe they're wasp, I don't know.

[Vorret]

Can you seal off the openings so they can't get in or out?

Not really, I'd have to find a way to seal off all around my shed, one side is asphalt, one grass and 2 are... ehh rocks not sure the exact term.

[Vorret]

Fire works best. If your shed happens to be flammable, bring some marshmallows.

if it was an old shed I might do that, considering we built it 4 years ago I'll pass

[LordMortis]

I'm sure this is the wrong answer, but I'd just fill in the holes the bees are coming out of.

I'm not a smart man.

If I was feeling particularly stupid, I'd cover up from head to toe and take a water hose to under the shed and flood them out.

Again, I'm not a smart man.

[$iljanus]

NO! NOT THE BEES!

[Isgrimnur]

You call someone to remove them.

Well, they might not be honey bees?
Heck maybe they're wasp, I don't know.

Then you still call an expert to make that determination for you. Bees R serious bizness.

[Enough]

NO! NOT THE BEES!

[stessier]

Nuke them from orbit - it's the only way to be sure.

[silverjon]

You call someone to remove them.

Well, they might not be honey bees?
Heck maybe they're wasp, I don't know.

Then you still call an expert to make that determination for you. Bees R serious bizness.

I'll just confirm this. Around here, you call a bee expert to either remove a colony of honeybees live, or eradicate an infestation of anything less desirable.

[telcta]

When you don't know the type and especially the nest size because it's hidden, you definitely want a professional. I have a big fear of bees. I saw a show about exterminators and they pulled down a wall and the inside was just one huge nest. Just the thought of living in a house that continues to grow a nest and you have no idea until you start hearing a constant dull buzzing. ** shudder **

[J.D.]

It would probably be worth it to get a couple cans of the hornet killer foamy stuff and just go to town spraying blind under their (at dusk so they bees are "resting"). That stuff sprays a pretty good distance and expands so a couple of lucky hits could get rid of much of the problem. It's only a few bucks per can so it's a cheap thing to try first before you call in the nukes.

[silverjon]

If they're honeybees, removal is free (it is here anyway), and you get the karma bonus of not contributing directly to the eradication of a valuable animal.

[tgb]

[Isgrimnur]

[nasai]

NOTHING scares me more.

If it's THIS guy:



Nuke from space.

[Daehawk]

If honeybees then have them removed.

If anything else like yellowjackets....if it's a hole in the ground pour gas in it...DONT light it. If it's just under the shed then toss a fogger bomb in there.

[Zurai]

NOTHING scares me more.

If it's THIS guy:



Nuke from space.

That's a Japanese hornet. Not only is it not a bee and impossible to mistake for a bee due to sheer size, it actually eats bees.

[nasai]

I know, however the conversation has drifted back and forth, so I added the BEAST for spice.

[Sectoid]

I'm dying to know if they are bees or not. If they are coming from below the shed I am going to go with "not bees". All the hives I have encountered in my life have been up high. There was once a colony so massive that the weight of the honeycomb collapsed my neighbor's shed's roof. She was an old woman and never took care of the problem. It was probably built over a few years.
Anyway, if it is wasps or hornets they like to take mud and make their homes wherever they can. There was a wasp's nest in a traffic cone by my old job. Fire took care of that. The wasp's nest, not my job.
At any rate, best of luck. The wasp killers you can buy at a Home Depot or Lowes work for most of those insects. If they are honey bees, please have them relocated.

[RMC]

I know that I got a dust from lowes or home depot that I put around where the hornets in my case had made a nest. They landed in the dust and tracked it into the nest... No more hornets in a few days.

I can't remember the brand, but as I recall there was a ton of this 'dust' at the store. And it was easy to apply, I just applied it late at night when it was a little chilly..

[silverjon]

I'm dying to know if they are bees or not. If they are coming from below the shed I am going to go with "not bees". All the hives I have encountered in my life have been up high. There was once a colony so massive that the weight of the honeycomb collapsed my neighbor's shed's roof. She was an old woman and never took care of the problem. It was probably built over a few years.
Anyway, if it is wasps or hornets they like to take mud and make their homes wherever they can. There was a wasp's nest in a traffic cone by my old job. Fire took care of that. The wasp's nest, not my job.
At any rate, best of luck. The wasp killers you can buy at a Home Depot or Lowes work for most of those insects. If they are honey bees, please have them relocated.

Honeybees will build anywhere they can find a comfy cavity. On the farm, we had them removed from the engine cavity of a vintage truck body, so not up high at all. And of course, most beehives for farm use are going to be ground level for ease of access.

[LordMortis]

I'm dying to know if they are bees or not. If they are coming from below the shed I am going to go with "not bees". All the hives I have encountered in my life have been up high. There was once a colony so massive that the weight of the honeycomb collapsed my neighbor's shed's roof. She was an old woman and never took care of the problem. It was probably built over a few years.
Anyway, if it is wasps or hornets they like to take mud and make their homes wherever they can. There was a wasp's nest in a traffic cone by my old job. Fire took care of that. The wasp's nest, not my job.
At any rate, best of luck. The wasp killers you can buy at a Home Depot or Lowes work for most of those insects. If they are honey bees, please have them relocated.

Honeybees will build anywhere they can find a comfy cavity. On the farm, we had them removed from the engine cavity of a vintage truck body, so not up high at all. And of course, most beehives for farm use are going to be ground level for ease of access.

I've never seen a real live honey bee nest in the wild. Hornets, yellow jackets and other wasps, yes. Honey bee or bumble bee, no. No idea why with bumble bees. I can only assume wild honey bees were always second rate to cultivated bee keeper colonies. *shrug*

[silverjon]

As far as I know, bumblebees don't form such large colonies, though at least some species do nest underground.

*googles*

yar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee#Nests" target="_blank

[msduncan]

If they are honeybees don't kill them. Have them removed.

My guess is that they are yellow jackets though since you said they are 'under' your shed. Yellow Jackets are ground nesters.

[killbot737]

Put some ground beef next to the bug hole. If the bugs eat the meat then they are yellowjackets or hornets and you should destroy them all. Or hire the guy who vacuums them up for science. Either way you might want to hire a pest control guy.

Figure out what kind of bug it is first, then we can decide whether you are a horrible earth-destroyer or not.

[Cylus Maxii]

You should definitely contact pest control. If you just bug bomb to be sure, you may be leaving all of the comb (honey, pollen, etc) from a bee hive under your shed. Even with the bees gone, that's going to attract all sorts of other problems from other animals. Read about it.

[LawBeefaroni]

Any chance of a photo of one of the little guys?

[Kraken]

Turning bees into drones with tiny backpacks

Vikram Iyer, Rajalakshmi Nandakumar, Anran Wang, Sawyer B. Fuller and Shyamnath Gollakota refer to it as Living IoT — a flying wireless platform, which includes sensors, wireless communication and location trackers, that ride aboard live insects. In this case, a bumblebee that will soar over huge fields and monitor temperature, humidity or crop health.

Because insects can fly on their own, the package requires only a tiny rechargeable battery that can last for seven hours of flight. The whole sensor package costs just a few dollars and weighs only 102 mg, or about the weight of seven grains of uncooked rice. (Bumblebees can carry payloads close to their body weight. A single bee weighs 0.00025 lb., or 113 mg.)
...
In time, the engineers plan to add a camera to the sensor. "We need to address security and privacy concerns before that, because once you put cameras on insects, there are other implications," Gollakota said.

I would watch BeeTV.

[Daehawk]

Probably yellow jackets.

[hitbyambulance]

no, yellowbackpacks

[Cylus Maxii]

You should look up The Bartlett Bee Whisperer on Facebook. He posts some really interesting removal photos and narratives.

[Jeff V]

5 1/2 year necro...and no closure on the OP? I'm guessing they weren't honey bees and they got him.