After discovering hives in two different houses on our new lease, blinds that have been neglected that a small owl could fly through aren't necessarily always a bad thing.

I'm meeting an exterminator out there in a couple of weeks. He and a buddy have treated 80+ hives in the last few weeks. I don't think any we've seen are africanized, but we're proceeding with extreme caution.

Had the same problem, only thing that kills them is Bengal Gold Roach spray. Exterminators only made them leave for a few days, waste of money. If you know exactly where the hive is located drill a hole just big enough to fit the straw that comes with the can of Bengal. Stick the straw in and caulk the gap around the straw then spray the can of Bengal and wait a day.

I have fought them for 6-7 yrs now in an old farm house on one place. I have used 7 dust and Demon WP to kill them off for a while every year. I patched up the holes into hives after they were gone. They will move back in and use a new location each year. They now are in 3 different spot in the walls and under a concrete porch after I sprayed their old locations last fall. I had them at my house last spring but killed that whole swarm off, took 2 days but they have not been anymore... yet. I have 2 Live Oak trees here on my place that have hollow limbs/trunks that have hives in them also. Never ending battle with them in years like this.

Wow. All you hear and read about is how the bees are disappearing everywhere. Doesn't look like you guys have any shortage.

I read where we lost 40% of our bees and 4 years after the bees are gone we're gone what it said

Walk past a ton of em whim checking cam's , think their out on parroll they still got their strips..

The bees will keep coming back if there is any residue of wax comb or honey. Pretty good chance you can get a bee keeper to come out and take them off your hands for free. Just search for what ever county you are in and beekeepers ex Harris County Bee Keepers. I keep bees but I live in Houston. If you happen to have a swarm local I'll come get em lol.

Sounds like I would just give the old blinds to the bees and the owls.

Some jobs aren't worth taking on. Once they leave residue from the hive they will come back every year to that smell and start again. I know I've had them in the eve of my house.

I hated to get rid of them because I know how dependent we are on them for our survival. But, the if the wife's not happy.....you know the rest of the story.

Put out a Krivoman blind and you won't have to worry about bees and owls and can easily move it if you don't stay on the place. Good luck with your new lease.

Thanks Marc. The blinds, and feeders, weren't really all that bad. Just a few wasps, but no bees. Good enough for a first year trial anyway. Almost all the feeders we found actually worked.

The main house we will stay in had bees in the outside water heater closet. Just a sheet of plywood, cut 1/2" short, for a door. We've gotta eliminate them at this house.

The line shack in the middle of the pasture we're leasing has a more intense infestation. 'Thought we'd use it as a kinda of primitive camp to avoid the long drive, but, after my buddy asked me inside it "Do you hear buzzing?" and I saw them inside one of the rooms, and then he noticed them entering at a second spot out on the front porch, which means they might be completely in the crawl space above that room, we may be changing the name "line shack" to "bee house" and just let them have it.

I had them in my shed over the course of a couple years & finally took matters into my own hands.A little gasoline took out the entire hive

Just sprayed, or sprayed and lit?

Just sprayed or actually to be more accurate poured.They were under an old storage chest.I waited til the weather cooled a bit & they weren't quite as active

Why not call a beekeeper out to just relocate them? I hate to sound like a tree hugger on the matter but Bee's should be relocated not killed. Wasp and other flying stingers of death should be dealt with swiftly though.

Don't take this wrong guys, I am not an anti- I am a pro guide. It is not worth killing a deer over a corn pile if you have to destroy hives of bees. They are the most important species for human existence on the planet, and are in trouble. Save all you can.

I emailed beekeepers in the three closest towns, off a list posted here on THF. Only got a response from a man in El Paso. He said it was too far, but he'd look for somebody in the area. Never heard from him again. Called the extension agent's office in Sanderson to ask for help. Lady said they "don't have no agent now" and to call Pecos. Sweet girl in Pecos didn't know any beekeepers, but their agent said to call the exterminator in Sanderson. I called the exterminator in Sanderson and he said that beehives are going crazy all over the area. He also said that no one down there moves bees 'cause they're too scared of them being Africanized. I'm meeting him and he's gonna kill 'em. I've done all I can. We're paying too much money to primitive camp in order to "save the bees".

And as far as "killing a deer over a corn pile" goes, I'd think a little longer next time about how to phrase your next post. I've hunted with Professional Hunters. You don't sound like one.

Use a wet/dry vac and remove them yourself. Take it elsewehere and relaese them.

Fwiw, I did what I did because I mow around that shed & have a bee allergy.Sorry, but this was 4 years ago & I was more worried about saving my own arse than some bees.At that time I wasn't aware there was a shortage of bees, sure wasn't here

Being a long time beekeeper myself, I can tell you that infestations that have been there a while can be really problematic. New swarms can be easily relocated, and most beekeepers will would be happy to take them off your hands. However, established hives are real tricky. You can kill 98% of the hive, and if you don't kill the queen, you haven't accomplished anything.

An established hive in a wall, for example, could EASILY have several hundred pounds of honey in the walls. Even if you kill every single bee, chances are another scout will smell the honey and alert his hive, and they will send another swarm to take it over. Even a single bee will bring another hive. So after eradicating them, you will have to plug every single hole or access point to prevent another swarm from taking up residence. Even if you are successful, often the leftover honey/combs will end up causing you all sorts of other problems - as honey will attract other rodents and insects. Even varmints like coons will end up tearing up your walls to get to the honey. The honey will never spoil or go bad, so it will always be there as an attractant.

In these cases, I'm sorry to say, you would be best ripping up the wall and removing the honey and combs. It's not pretty, and it's not cheap.

Established hives, if you wish to eradicate, are best handled in colder temps. Bees cannot survive cold weather. In the winter, simply cut some large holes/sections that expose the hive where the bees can no longer regulate the temp, and every single bee will die or move on. Then you can complete the process of honey/comb removal without dealing with the issue of bees themselves.

As a boy, my dad and I once had to remove a established hive. We cut several 1'x1' holes in the outside walls to expose the hive. Within 3 days, the hive was dead and gone. When we began to remove the siding, we found the hive was floor to ceiling, and covered a 10ft long section of the wall. We removed close to 500 pounds of honey and combs (and it was very good and tasty honey too!) This hive swarmed into the house in March of the same year, so less than a year old. Incredible how much they can build when the honey flow is on.

I know this is not what you wanted to hear, but I am being honest here. If the outside siding is brick, you got a real problem - because you will have to get to it from the inside through the sheetrock. Pray they are not in the attic or rafters, because then the job gets exponentially more difficult and expensive. Walls are fairly easy.

The good news, if any, is that I wouldn't worry about "africanized" bees. They are not as common as the stories you here, and they are really not much different than regular bees. The are supposed to be "much more aggressive", but we never really found that to be the case. Maybe if you pizzed them off real good, but we worked with africanized bees many times and I never really noticed any difference.

If you kill them off, even temporarily, and leave the combs/honey - here's what will happen. Eventually, through heat and age, the caps on the honey comb cells will deteriorate. Then you will get honey begin to seep out. If they are in the ceiling, for example, the honey will seep into the sheetrock and it will become saturated (it will never "dry"). Then it will only be a matter of time before the ceiling falls. It's not a pretty sight, I've seen it. Then you are forced to deal with ripping up stuff to remove it anyway. Better to do it proactively.

It sounds like the water heater shack isn't going to be much of an issue - but the line shack might end up being more trouble than it is worth.

Great comments, John. As for saving the bees, sometimes, it's just not that easy. Most beekeepers won't come get them, especially if involves removing them from structures. And a person who has no experience with bees also has no business moving and "relocating" bees.

I had a hive for a few years in a wall in an 80 year old barn on my place. I think I called every beekeeper I could find in the Panhandle and nary a one wanted to come out to get the hive, which is certainly understandable. Disappointing, but understandable.

As John mentioned using the cold to your advantage, one beekeeper tipped me off to also using the cold, but recommended using water to spray the bees down which would kill them faster and preserve the honey. Obviously, that's not feasible in a house, but in an old barn it's no issue.

Well, I came back the following year during the late deer season prepared to haul water and salvage the honey, only to find the hive gone. To say the least, I was a bit disappointed. Really wish I could have gotten some of that honey.

Thank you Mr. Humbert. I'm afraid the line shack is probably the worst case scenario, as you described. The place has been neglected for too long. If it was my ranch, I'd deal with it. I like honey too, but not crushing me in the middle of the night when the ceiling collapses. Good news for the bees - we'll probably let them have the line shack.

Does this actually work? It would scare the heck out of me. I'd be worried it would just make em mad.

Yeah, I'm gonna pass on that idea. 'Meeting the exterminator this week to hopefully get them out of the exterior water heater closet on our main little house. I'm considering watching from the comfort of my pickup (which is stocked with Benadryl in the glove box) with the engine and A/C running. If successful, I have scrap plywood, tools and materials to try and close up the crack they were getting in.

What.A.Mess. But, I've got "sweet" hot water now!

Wow.

Man, honey on tap would be pretty cool.