Bumble Bees Under Siding

Follow where they seem to disappear into the side of your house.

Bumble bees under siding.

The most common places to find bees would be under eaves and awnings porches and in the voids of walls a particularly annoying place for a queen bee to choose as a hive. Even though a hive nestled inside the wood aluminum or vinyl siding is hard to actually reach these are in fact some of the easiest and safest types of nests to get rid of because they require no contact. Bees are so endangered that i would never suggest anything that could cause them harm. If you see a honey bee in the united states you ll be looking at the european honey bee.

The honey bee is one half to three fourths an inch in length. Honey bees aren t native to the united states and they were transported to the us by european settlers. I ve also had one get in the house as i was going in the door. Whether in abandoned rodent holes gaps in siding piles of wood or even compost heaps bumblebees will build a nest in a dry protected place.

Some honey bees look black too. Now you might think that a hive hidden away inside of the siding on your home whether it s wood vinyl or aluminum is hard to get rid of but actually they re pretty safe and easy. Common places for bees to hide and build nests include overhangs cracks window frames shutters door frames and underneath the siding. Among the honey bees the queen along with her many offsprings stays in the hive and hibernates.

While bumblebees are social their colonies are usually much smaller 50 400 insects than the massive hives built by honeybees. If the bees are boring holes into your siding they are carpenter bees not bumble bees. Just this summer i got my first sting from a bee where the colony had made its hive just under the first step of my mother s second story porch. Among the bumble bees just the queen hibernates and that too inside a hole in the ground.

Observe the bees during the afternoon as that is the most active time of day for yellow jackets. Where the siding meets the concrete foundation of the house bees are going up there and i assume they re building a hive of some sort. Honey bees live in big hives consisting of around 20 000 60 000 bees. My house has vinyl siding.

Bumble bees have small colonies consisting of around 50 300 bees. If possible mark off any entrance holes you find so that you can easily identify them later. Try planting a bee garden away from where the bees are congregating around your house siding.