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Noticed a small crack between the concrete steps and the base of the house on the back patio steps leading out the house. Saw bees flying in and out so I have been spraying them and killing them off. Been spraying with Spectricide yellow jacket/ carpenter bees killer and it kills on contact. By now I have killed at least 60 bees but they still keep coming. How do I solve this problem. If i try to seal this up will any remaining bees now make other holes to escape. I will eventually need to seal but when should I try that?? Looking for suggestions. Wait till winter?? Thanks.
John T.
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Location: Front seat on the Struggle Bus
I use one of the rubber bulb thingies for putting water in a car battery. Fill it with sevin powder, stick it in the hole and fill it up....all well after dark and preferrably on a cool nite.
Or, just leave them alone as they abandon the nest in the fall and start over somewhere else next spring.
Ed
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If it is a hive honey bees, they likely will not abandon the space in the fall.
Killing them can be difficult because the hive can be very large and the pesticide dust will not get to all parts of the hive. Even if you do kill the hive the honey and comb left behind will attract other pests to clean up the hive.
Many pest control companies either have the skills to safely remove a hive or know local bee keepers that do. If the space is not made unattractive to bees they will return.
Proper hive removal may not be cheap but it is the best way to deal with the problem.
Youtube is full of videos of beekeepers removing hives from homes and other structures,
TonyC
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Your nest will continue to grow until the 1st frost kills most of the flowers.
They're hard to kill at this stage. Nests are large, and there's lots of eggs and larvae.
The dust suggestion is good.
If you hire somebody, they're probably going to hit it with a pyrethroid gas, dust, and then a liquid residual to take care of returning foragers.
Matt
If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.
-Jack Handy