Bees are fond of building nests in tight, isolated spaces, so wall cavities are a common nesting site. Many homeowners might find a bee colony building a nest in their brickwork and not know what to do.
Having already shared our guide on how to get rid of bees from chimneys, Pest-Tech is sharing our bee removal expertise to help homeowners with bee nests in wall cavities. Keep reading to find out more.
Types Of Bees Found In Walls
Usually, if you have bees in your wall, it is most likely to be honey bees. Bumblebees in wall cavities are rare, as they don’t have the ability to burrow into hard materials, but they might make an existing cavity their home.
Honey bees are often mistaken for wasps, as they have a similar appearance, but honey bees are hairier and more robust than wasps, which are thinner and almost hairless.
It may also be a type of solidarity bee, such as masonry bees or carpenter bees, both of which like to nest inside walls.
Whatever bee species you’re dealing with, if they get into your wall cavities and build a nest, then this can cause serious structural damage and irritation.
How To Identify A Bee Nest
Seeing a few bees flying around doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a bee nest. Signs of a bee nest in your walls include:
- A steady buzzing noise coming from within the walls
- Gaps in your walls or skirting boards where bees are flying in and out regularly
- Dark, damp patches on your walls or ceiling from the honey leaking out of the nest
- Feeling warmth through the walls
How Bees Get Into Wall Cavities
In the summer months, you’re likely to see bees flying around your home, as they often enter through open doors or windows in search of flowers or pollen.
Usually, once they realise they are inside, the bees will fly back out again, meaning there’s nothing to worry about.
Occasionally, bees find a gap in your walls, which they use to enter. If they find a warm, comfortable space inside, they build a nest and use pheromones to encourage the rest of their colony to join them.
While walls might seem like a sealed unit, over time, gaps or cracks can appear, which can offer a way for a bee colony to find its way inside.
Additionally, if a house has recently had work carried out, such as pipe relocation or rewiring, then gaps left behind can be the ideal entry point for bees.
Some bee species, such as carpenter bees, can also chew their way through cavity walls and make their own holes, then build their nests inside.
Damage Caused By Bees In Walls
A bee nest inside walls can cause serious structural and aesthetic issues, as well as a health hazard. Some of the main issues caused by bee nests in walls include:
- Structural damage from the weight of the nest, which could cause problems with eaves, beams, walls and other parts of your property
- Deterioration of the bricks and mortar
- Stains from wax and honey, which can cause issues with your paintwork and plaster
- A pungent smell of decay caused by dead bees in your walls
- An existing bee nest can encourage other bees to enter the area
- Honey can be a food source for other vermin, including rodents such as rats or mice
- Increased risk of bee stings and allergic reactions
How Are Bees Removed From A Wall Cavity?
When carrying out honey bee removal, the first step is to check how big the nest is and where exactly it is inside your wall.
For this task, we use an infrared camera to see the size of the nest. One of our expert pest controllers will also look at the bees they can see in the property, to check if the issue is honey bees or another species.
Once we know what we’re dealing with, we will assess the material the wall is made out of and make a plan. We’ll remove some of the cavity wall or air bricks to gain access to the bees.
Wearing protective clothing, we will cut out the bee nest from the wall cavity and transport the bees to their new hives.
Our team will then clear away any debris and leave the wall ready for repair. We’ll then recommend a local tradesperson who can carry out the work to repair the wall cavity and seal any gaps so there are no access points for other insects to use.
Will The Bees Be Killed?
While it is perfectly legal to kill bees, most pest control companies, including Pest-Tech, will relocate bees to keep them alive and benefit the local ecosystem.
Our team will take all the bees from your cavity walls and relocate them to a local hive, where they can continue to pollinate crops and plants without disturbing humans.
The hives we use have ample space for bee colonies and are an ideal way to protect the local bee population while also ensuring they don’t cause damage or distress to residents.
Why It’s Crucial You Call In The Professionals
Removing a bee nest from your wall cavities is a skilled job that requires professional help. If you attempt to do the work yourself, then you might get stung or cause further damage to your property.
Honey bees stay in their nests year after year, and can live in the same area for 3 years or even longer. As such, if you have a honey bee nest in your walls, you need to get rid of it quickly, and the problem won’t go away on its own.
Pest-Tech has experience in honey bee removal from walls, and we can quickly relocate the colony and ensure more bees can’t take up residence in your walls.
As well as removing honey bees, we can provide pest control for other insects, including different bee species, wasps, moths, carpet beetles, silverfish, and even spiders, for the severely Arachnophobic.
While some local beekeepers may remove bees for free, most pest control companies like ours charge a fee for our services. This will cover the cost to come and remove the honey bee colony and relocate them to a safe bee hive where they won’t cause issues to humans or property owners.
Covering Maidstone, Kent and the surrounding area, our team have experience removing bees from walls, chimneys, lofts and other hard-to-reach spaces. For a bee removal quote, contact us on 01622 296055 or by emailing admin@pest-tech.org.