You park your car. As you disembark, an insect flies right in front of you. You ignore it because you think it’s a normal fly. But when a second and a third fly by, you throw off everything on your hands. A swarm of bees is resting on the edge of your roof!
If bees keep coming into your house, use essential oils like lemongrass, thyme, lavender, hyssop, citronella, fennel, and peppermint to deter them. Mix the oils with water, wipe down surfaces with them, or soak cotton balls in them, then place them around the house. They won’t harm the bees.
Given bees’ role in our ecosystem, killing them is unwise. Instead, only chase them away or get a professional to move them to a proper beehive.
What Attracts Bees to A House?
Bees in your house are like uninvited guests whose timing is always wrong. Now, do you know you could have contributed to their impromptu visit? Yes.
Bees swarming around your house can be caused by the following:
1. Flowers
Bees are flower lovers as this is where they collect nectar as their food. So, having colorful flowers in your compound, especially the wall-hanging ones, will attract the bees.
If, for instance, a swarm of honey bees has split from their colony and is looking for a new residence, a compound with plenty of flowers will be their first stop since feed is guaranteed.
2. Sugar
Sugar is like a magnet to the bees. Remember when you went for a picnic and many of them couldn’t leave you in peace? You must have had sugary stuff, like pineapples and honey.
The same happens in your house since sweet sugary stuff will get the bees knocking on your house and residing with you.
3. Soft Wooden Structures
Ever heard of the carpenter bees species? Carpenter bees like boring into wooden structures, searching for a nest. The female carpenter bee will put in all the effort searching for a place to lay the eggs.
They prefer soft wooden structures as they are easy to drill. Check around your house for the holes and examine the status of that wood. It could be the reason the bees are in your house.
4. The Porch Light
Yes, your porch light could be why bees won’t leave your house. Bees belong to the class of insects that become dormant at night. Your porch light could alter their typical reaction to positive phototactic, making them remain attracted to the light.
5. Former Beehives
Let’s say you just acquired the property, and the previous owners had hives in the compound that are now dormant. These hives are a great attraction to the swarm of bees searching for a new residence.
Some, such as Langstroth hives, last very long and can withstand the elements even when abandoned for a while.
How to Get Bees Away from Your House
You can use different approaches to get the bees away from your house. You can apply natural methods that will not harm the bees but force them to relocate. Or, you can engage experts in bee control who will employ other measures to relocate or kill them.
Some home remedies you can apply naturally and keep bees away from the porch, balcony, or house at large include the following:
1. Essential Oils
Spray your compound with a concoction of essential oils. You can combine the oils to form a strong acid for it to be effective.
Mix up peppermint, rosemary, thyme, and hyssop with water. Also, wipe your surfaces with the mixture to keep bees and wasps away.
2. Seal Loopholes
If you are sure that your area is susceptible to bee invasion, go the extra mile and seal all possible entry points.
You could wire up the vents and chimneys. Then, clean the gutters and seal holes left behind during your house’s electrical wiring. This method also works to keep bees away from the pool or other locations.
3. Vinegar
Place a few small containers strategically on the bees’ route. In due course, the bees will be repelled. Vinegar also helps prevent bees from nesting since bees don’t like its smell.
4. Hot Pepper
Boil the pepper, strain, and let it cool. Then, spray around your house or the most vulnerable areas to repel the bees.
Bees may sometimes die by themselves, especially in winter when they don’t have a good hive to cluster and survive the cold. In such a case, you may not need to worry since the weather will help you eliminate them.
Commercial Options
When the infestation gets out of hand, consider bringing in an expert exterminator to help you out.
They apply different approaches, such as the following:
- Relocating the nest
- Using killer sprays
- Treating your wood with WD-40
Ask them about the side effects (if any) of their methods and how to further prevent the bees from coming back. Killing bees when they enter your house is not a good idea.
Instead, find a way to deter them or simply keep them away. Bees from a nearby hive may be coming to your house since they lack food for the winter, and simply checking their hive can help you keep them away.
How do Bees Get into the House?
Once they identify a favorable environment, bees have various access points to your house.
The most common ones include:
1. Vents
See those vents on your outer wall, ceiling, or just above the window? Ideally, they are meant to control the temperature in your house. Unfortunately, they also serve as the bees’ entry points. The vents, especially those on the upper floors, are a favorite for the bees.
2. Chimney
The protruding section of your chimney is a crucial entry point for the bees. This is because it links your house and the external environment.
The bees can even form a hive here since the area is hardly interrupted. Under the eaves of a neglected chimney, the bees huddle and form a nest. From this point, they can easily hover around your entire house.
3. Wall Cracks
Any opening on your wall will create an ideal entry point for the bees to your house. Check out gaps where the electrical wiring connects to your house or the roof tiles overlap. Shoddy developers could have left small openings that the bees use.
In addition, the design of your exterior could attract the bees and use it as the route to get to your house. For instance, the point where the fascia board joins the roof could have a gap, and the bees could use that.
4. Gutters
When dry, the gutters are ideal access points for the bees. Therefore, constantly check, clean, and seal the gutters and pipes when not in use.
Ensure that the point where the gutter joins your house fits completely without leaving openings that bees could use to access your house.
Conclusion
Having bees in your house can be a significant distraction, especially the honeybees that sting when disturbed. Immediately you discover a few of them around, take time to find out where they have nested around your home, and apply the best evacuation measures or repel them.
Bees are essential for the entire ecosystem as they aid in pollination, and their honey is a crucial ingredient in many products. Therefore, apply natural bee-repelling methods before resorting to commercial extermination tactics.
References
Missisipi State University. Prevention and Treatment of Nuisance Honey Bees around Your Home.
The LSU AgCenter and the LSU College of Agriculture. Honeybee Removal and Swarm Collection.
Michigan State University. Bee, wasp or hornet nest: Which one is it?