Bees in Your Walls: What to Do (and What Not to Do)

Seeing a few bees flying around your home may not seem like a big deal. But if you notice bees repeatedly entering and exiting the same small opening in your siding, soffit, roofline, or exterior wall, there may be much more happening inside than you can see.

Honey bees can establish colonies inside wall cavities, attics, chimneys, and other protected areas of a home. By the time a homeowner notices steady bee activity outside, the colony may already have built comb and stored honey inside the structure.

If you suspect you have bees living in your walls, one of the most important things you can do is avoid sealing the entrance or spraying the bees yourself.

Signs You May Have Bees Living Inside a Wall

A few bees visiting flowers around your property is completely normal. The biggest warning sign of an established colony is repeated activity around one specific area of the home.

Watch for signs such as:

• Bees consistently entering and exiting the same opening
• Heavy bee traffic around siding, brick, soffits, fascia, vents, or rooflines
• Buzzing sounds coming from inside a wall or ceiling
• Bees appearing inside the home
• Bee activity that continues for days or weeks rather than disappearing quickly

A swarm that has recently landed on a tree branch or other exposed surface is different from a colony that has moved into a structure. Once bees begin building comb inside a wall cavity, removing them properly becomes much more important.

Do Not Seal the Entrance

One of the most common mistakes homeowners make is sealing the opening where the bees are entering.

It may seem logical: close the hole, and the problem is solved.

Unfortunately, it can make the situation worse.

If an active colony is trapped inside the wall, the bees may begin searching for another way out. That can sometimes lead them farther into the structure or even into the living space of the home.

Sealing the entrance also does nothing to remove the hive material already inside the wall.

The safest approach is to have the colony evaluated and removed before permanently closing the entry point.

What Is Actually Inside the Wall?

An established honey bee colony is much more than a group of bees.

Inside the cavity, the colony may have built multiple sections of wax comb containing:

• Honey
• Pollen
• Developing brood
• Worker bees
• The queen
• Wax comb

Depending on how long the colony has been established and how much space is available, the amount of comb can become substantial.

That is why simply killing or driving away the visible bees does not necessarily solve the entire problem.

Why Removing the Comb Matters

Proper bee removal should address more than the bees themselves.

If large amounts of honey and wax are left behind inside a structure, they may attract ants, roaches, wax moths, rodents, or other pests. Honey can also soften or leak under certain conditions.

Old comb can also make the location attractive to future honey bee colonies because bees are naturally drawn to places that have previously housed a hive.

Whenever practical and accessible, removing the bees along with the comb and hive material provides a much more complete solution.

Why Spraying Bees Is Often Not the Best Solution

Spraying the entrance of an established colony may kill some of the bees you can see, but it may not reach the entire colony deeper inside the structure.

The queen, brood, honey, and comb may remain protected inside the cavity.

For homeowners interested in preserving honey bees, professional live removal also provides an alternative that allows the colony to be relocated rather than destroyed whenever conditions make relocation possible.

How Professional Bee Removal Works

Every removal is different because bees can establish colonies in many areas of a home.

A professional bee removal typically begins by determining where the bees are entering and estimating where the colony is located inside the structure.

If the hive is accessible, a portion of siding, soffit, drywall, skirting, or another building material may need to be carefully opened so the colony can be reached.

The bees can then be removed, and accessible comb, honey, and hive material can be taken out of the cavity.

Once the colony has been removed, the area can be prepared for repair and the original entry points can be sealed to help prevent another colony from moving into the same space.

Swarm or Established Hive?

Not every group of bees around your property means you have bees inside the walls.

A bee swarm is typically a temporary cluster of bees resting together while scout bees search for a new home. Swarms are often seen hanging from tree branches, fences, shrubs, mailboxes, or other exposed surfaces.

An established colony, on the other hand, has moved into a protected cavity and begun building comb.

If you see bees repeatedly flying in and out of the same opening in your home, there is a good chance they have moved beyond the swarm stage and established a hive.

How Long Should You Wait Before Calling Someone?

If bees are repeatedly entering the same part of your house, it is usually better to have the situation inspected sooner rather than later.

A newly established colony may have only a small amount of comb. As the colony grows, the bees can continue expanding the hive and storing additional honey.

Waiting does not necessarily mean the bees will leave on their own.

Once honey bees find a protected cavity that works well for them, they may remain there and continue developing the colony.

Can You Remove Bees Without Killing Them?

In many situations, yes.

Live bee removal involves carefully removing the colony and relocating the bees whenever the location and condition of the hive allow it.

At Alpine Farms Bee Removal, our goal is to remove unwanted honey bee colonies from homes and structures while giving the bees an opportunity to continue doing what they do best in a more appropriate location.

Every removal presents its own challenges, especially when bees have built comb deep inside a wall, roof, floor, or other difficult-to-access area. That is why evaluating the specific situation is an important first step.

Think You Have Bees in Your Walls?

If you notice bees repeatedly entering the same opening around your home, do not seal the hole and do not ignore the activity.

What looks like a handful of bees outside may be connected to a much larger colony hidden inside the structure.

Alpine Farms Bee Removal can evaluate the situation, determine where the colony is located, and recommend the best approach for removing the bees and accessible hive material.

Seeing bees going into your wall, roofline, soffit, or another part of your home? Contact Alpine Farms Bee Removal for help identifying the problem and determining the next step.