bees in ceiling, is it going to collapse tonight?!

[mound]

Three days ago the ceiling in this picture looked totally normal.  

I have some guys refinishing the hardwood floors, they were stained yesterday and this mess wasn't even noticed then.  The guys walk in today and thousands of bees are in the room. The window was covered (blacked out) with bees. Not sure what kind, don't think honey bees, they look more like yellow jackets or a small wasp, but I really don't know.  (this is an outside corner of the house)

They got the ones in the room vacuumed up and I have a bee guy coming tomorrow morning.  Many of them seem to be sluggish and dying - wondering if the new fumes have something to do with it. 

The picture comprises roughly 2' and the duct tape is over the hole they were coming in through.   Any bets on how big the actual nest is?  Anybody have any idea what all the orange powder is? (I touched it, it's powdery)

Given how fast this progressed, I'm worried the ceiling might just collapse open tonight and was wondering if maybe I should screw up a piece of plywood over the whole thing until the bee guy gets here.

[Gary G™]

Gasoline
Match
Insurance

[MstrCarpenter]

Gasoline
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Insurance

"It was an accident. Really! I didn't think the green wood would actually burn. I was just trying to make smoke."

[Cooler]

If you google "beehive removal services near me" you will find people who will relocate the nest.  It is supposed to be fairly inexpensive.  I think the beehive has some monetary value that is factored in.

https://www.google.com/search?q=beehive+...T8Q4dUDCA4

[Roly]

If you google "beehive removal services near me" you will find people who will relocate the nest.  It is supposed to be fairly inexpensive.  I think the beehive has some monetary value that is factored in.

 But they may be yellow jackets from his description,  if so different ballgame.  Roly

[mound]

Definitely not honey bees, was told "probably German Wasp".. Big nest between the ceiling drywall and insulation. Wasn't any bigger than the area that was showing the moisture.

[TDKPE]

So did the bee guy come and get rid of them?

[Bob10]

Definitely not honey bees, was told "probably German Wasp".. Big nest between the ceiling drywall and insulation. Wasn't any bigger than the area that was showing the moisture.

Usually not an inexpensive removal.  Even bee removals are not what be considered inexpensive unless they are hanging from a tree or on a fence.  I got called for one today that was in a large oak that fell yesterday.  I set up a box with a lure and sprayed the tree with repellent.  I will see the results in the morning.  I told them if the bees don't move poison them as there is no way to get the queen out if she survived the fall out of the thing.  If they wanted bees they cost much less than a removal service

[mound]

So did the bee guy come and get rid of them?

"sort of"

Very odd. Local established "bug company" <I won't name them> came... Guy said "I've never seen anything like that".. Then we could see bees going in and out of the corner on the outside of the house.. He says "I think they're up behind the gutter, maybe this stain in the ceiling is water damage happening?" and then he asked me what I wanted to do. 

A bit baffled, I said "I'm looking for you to tell me!" and he's like, uh, well I can drill couple small holes and spray poison up there, which he did. I said "what about the outside?" and he said "I don't have a tall enough ladder"  (standard 2 story house)

Then I persisted and said "listen, I've never seen this either, but a thousand bees exited this spot yesterday, and look at the drywall, clearly there is a hive behind there"

Again he says "so what do you want to do?"  and I said "you tell me! we need to remove the nest" to which he replies "we don't cut holes in walls" ..

hmmmm... I said "did I not call the right people? what if I was a little old lady with a nest in my wall, who would I call to get rid of it?" to which his response was only meager laughter. 

so I said "I'm cutting this open and we'll remove what's there."

so I grabbed my oscillating multi-tool and cut it open, and out drop lots of dead bees.. He seemed very surprised at what he saw, and then proceeded to remove it all, since he was wearing a bee suit and gloves and I had nothing on.

I said, "I'm not sure I should be paying you guys for anything but chemicals given you made me do the work!"  and again, laughter. He said "good teamwork! I should tell my boss we should be allowed to cut holes in walls"

As he left he spent about 10 minutes in his truck "talking to his boss" and an hour later the invoice arrives via email: $0 due. 

glad it's resolved, for free, but the whole experience was very odd.

UPDATE:
I didn't mention earlier, he got up in the attic to crawl around looking as well.. Noticed this morning that there is a massive, 5' long crack in the ceiling of two bedrooms under where he was moving around.. .ugg. gonna have to take this up with them.

[jamesglenn]

I have had this happen twice (same spot) over the years.

Typically you can hear them "humming" at night as they huddle to keep warm, yes even in the summer.

I called a bee specialist in the second time who drilled a hole in the ceiling and pulled/vacuumed them out. He clearly told me he does not climb in attics due to the chance of falling thru a ceiling and being responsible for fixing  it. Of course he isn't responsible to fix the hole he drilled either.

The first time I climbed up there because I thought it was bats. Proceeded to spray bee killer which basically wetted the drywall and caused it to erode. I didn't think about the paper face in the heat of the moment.

Then I remembered bees breathe thru their legs or something and the Sven dust will suffocate them. 

I ended up replacing a bunch of the insulation they nested in as well and made darn sure any hole was filled in the soffits.