Bees keep our environment thriving, but no one wants them buzzing around their living room or nesting in the walls. A bee infestation in a house can cause unexpected problems, like property damage and safety concerns for your family or pets. Fortunately, catching the warning signs makes all the difference in helping these pollinators safely relocate. Let’s break down the sure signs you’ve got a bee infestation in your house and what to do about it.
Frequent Bee Sightings Indoors
While an occasional bee might fly in through an open window, repeated encounters are an indicator that you may have a bee problem. Treat these sightings as warnings that deserve investigation. Bees instinctively move toward light when stuck indoors, so you’ll likely see them clustering by windows, lamps, or skylights.
If you see bees during different times of the day, especially when doors and windows are closed, you might need to check for their entry point. And what if the bees are dead? Well, finding dead bees scattered near windowsills, doorways, or light fixtures is another common sign of a bee problem. Bees navigating a house for the first time often fail to find their way back out, which leads to their demise in these spots. Regularly seeing dead bees means their main point of entry might be hidden somewhere nearby.
Bee Entry Points Inside Your Home
Bees don’t need much space to invade. Scan your home for small cracks, holes, or unsealed gaps around doors, windows, or vents. Even spaces around plumbing or wiring can provide bees with the perfect way inside. These areas won’t always look suspicious, but consistent sightings of bees entering or exiting narrow gaps can reveal the location of their indoor hideout.
Buzzing or Humming Noises in Walls or Ceilings
What may seem like a harmless creak of the house settling could be the steady hum of bees hard at work. Activities like building honeycombs, foraging for nectar, and maintaining their hive create vibrations you can hear. Larger colonies produce louder hums, making their presence unmistakable, especially during daytime hours when activity peaks.
The hive is active if the buzzing grows louder on sunny or warm days. Bees venture out to gather food during favorable weather, creating a more noticeable hum from the busyness of their movements. Listen for this pattern at different times of the day, indicating a hive is thriving and growing. Once you hear buzzing, pinpoint its location. Tap along the wall or move close to the ceiling to determine its origin.
Honey or Sticky Residue on Walls or Ceilings
Honey production kicks off early as bees settle in, and over time, it creates visible and physical consequences for your home. If you notice sticky spots, strange stains, or a faintly sweet aroma, the bees have a hive (hiding out of sight).
The honey produced inside walls can seep through drywall and paint, leaving behind dark, sticky patches. These stains usually have irregular shapes and feel tacky when you touch them. As gravity does its work, the stains might appear larger or streak down vertical surfaces, making the problem impossible to ignore.
When left for an extended period, honey can weaken the structural integrity of your walls. It can seep deeper into building materials, softening wood and drywall and leading to expensive repairs. The faster you address the situation, the sooner you can prevent these long-term consequences.
Moreover, honey can draw in unwanted pests like cockroaches, ants, or rodents. If you spot these pests near specific wall areas or stains, they might be feasting on honey from a hidden hive. Their activity adds another layer of urgency to handle the infestation quickly.
Pollen or Wax Debris
When bees travel, they drop fine, powdery coatings of pollen along their path. This yellow dust is easy to spot on windowsills, near air vents, or around doorways. Further, small wax particles may accompany the construction of a new hive. Check high-traffic entry areas like windows, doorframes, or attic vents for scattered pollen or wax bits. Garages and crawl spaces are also common zones for bee activity, given their accessibility and secluded nature. Finding residue in these spots means the bees have likely passed through repeatedly, even if you don’t see them.
Discovery of a Hive or Nest
Finding a hive is the ultimate sure sign you’ve got a bee infestation in your home. Hives can appear in outdoor spots like decks or eaves, but many also hide within attics, walls, or crawl spaces. Understanding how to identify and differentiate hives from other nests helps you take the right steps to address the problem. Beehives have a waxy appearance and rounded hexagonal cells, where they store honey and young bees. Wasp nests, on the other hand, look papery and have a rough texture.
Attempting to remove a hive on your own could result in painful stings and possibly trigger more aggressive behavior from the bees. This process requires care and expertise, particularly if the hive is large or in a hard-to-reach area. Improper removal might also leave behind pheromones that attract new bees, which will rebuild in the same spot.
Allergic Reactions or Health Risks
For some individuals, bee infestations can cause dangerous allergic reactions, such as hives, swelling, or difficulty breathing. If anyone in your household has a bee venom allergy, even a single sting could result in a medical emergency. When bees nest in or around your home, the risk of accidental stings increases, especially as the colony grows.
Additionally, bees actively collect and carry pollen on their legs, which can inadvertently spread throughout your home. For allergy sufferers, this higher pollen exposure might trigger sneezing, runny noses, itchy eyes, or asthma symptoms. Pay attention if your allergies act up more than usual, especially near suspected hive locations.
The health risks extend to pets as well. Dogs and cats who encounter bees inside your home or yard could be stung or have an allergic reaction. Children are also vulnerable, as they might accidentally provoke the bees and get stung.
Address Bee Infestations With Patrick’s Home Solutions
At Patrick’s Home Solutions, we know how unsettling a bee infestation is. Luckily, we have safe, effective solutions to help you reclaim your space. Our family-operated business prides itself on providing reliable, efficient services that protect your family.
As a trusted pest control company, we have training and experience to safely remove hives and prevent reinfestations. Whether bees have set up shop in your walls, attic, or yard, we’ll locate the problem and get the bees out. Contact us today!