• Honey Bee
• Yellow Jacket Wasp
• Paper Wasp Hive

Honey Bees

The wild or domesticated European honey bees can become a serious pest when they establish a nest in or on a structure. Individual colonies may have 20,000 to 50,000 bees. The most serious problems result when a swarm of honey bees locates a small opening or openings in an exterior wall, down a chimney, or behind some faulty flashing of a home and then nests in a wall void or some other interior area. If honey bees become well established within the wall voids of a house, large amounts of wax and honey may collect within the wall. As long as the bees are active, the workers keep the air moving inside the nest by fanning with their wings, so the temperature remains below the melting point of the wax. If the bees are killed, this form of air conditioning ceases to function. In warm weather or if the interior of the house is kept warm, the wax within the wall void may then become soft enough to melt, allowing the honey to seep out of the storage cells and create a mess. If a sufficient amount of honey is inside the walls, enough may be absorbed by plaster or similar porous wall material that an unsightly and virtually permanent stain may appear on the inside wall. Another problem inherent to such situations is that the presence of honey in the wall void will attract foraging worker bees from other honey bee colonies. Other insects, such as various flies, ants, and beetles will also be attracted to the nest site and may later infest other materials inside the home. Thus, there may be a continuous supply of bees or other pests around the house, even though the original colony was destroyed. It is important that the hive be completely removed as soon as possible after the colony is controlled, even if this requires substantial expense for carpentry and repairs.

Africanized Honey Bees aka Killer Bees

Africanized honey bees are the same species as European Honey bees, but they behave in a more aggressive manner. In a perceived attack, Africanized honey bees will quickly respond with stings and in much greater numbers than European honey bees. They are also known to pursue perceived intruders for up to a quarter-mile, unheard of from most other bee species.

Wasps

Wasps can be social or solitary. Social wasps live in large colonies that can number in the thousands. Solitary wasps live alone and rarely build nests. Some wasps are aggressive species, which sting when threatened. Unlike Honey Bees, Wasps are capable of stinging multiple times.

Yellow jackets

Several species of social wasps known commonly by entomologists as yellowjackets are the smallest at about 1/2 inch long. Most species typically build their nests underground, often in an abandoned mammal burrow or a similar underground cavity. However, the German yellowjacket commonly nests in structures, often found nesting in wall voids, attics or crawl spaces, and they use some available hole or crack in the exterior facing of the building as an entry point. As many as several thousand workers may be produced in a colony in one season. Colonies in certain areas of California and southern Florida will persist for more than a year, so are called perennial. Theses colonies ultimately develop more workers than typical annual colonies. Some species nearly exclusively live on live prey, such as flies, caterpillars, and other insects, while other species forage strongly for meat and carcasses, garbage, and picnic tables to feed developing larvae. Yellowjacket workers tend to be somewhat unpredictable in their response to humans who approach the nest. Often, a person approaching the nest is completely ignored, but sometimes a person simply walking nearby will be stung. Many experts consider yellowjackets to be the most dangerous wasp family in the United States, because of the insect's nesting and foraging behavior and the potential for it's venom to induce severe, life-threatening allergic responses in certain sting victims.

Structural Termite and Pest Control professionals are licensed and experienced in effective treatment of carpenter and other ant infestations.

Paper wasps

Paper wasps are about 3/4" to 1" inch long with slender, narrow-waist bodies. Their wings are smoky black and they fold lengthwise when at rest. Body coloration varies between brown, red, and yellow. Paper wasps are semi-social insects, colonies consist of three castes: workers, queens and males. In spring-time fertilized queens select a nesting site and begin to build a nest. Nests are built from wood fiber that is chewed and formed into a single paper-like comb. Nests are oriented downward and are suspended by a single filament. They are commonly found around the home underneath eaves. A mature paper wasp nest may contain up to 200 cells. Paper wasps attack when the nest is disturbed, each wasp can sting repeatedly. Stings typically cause localized pain and swelling, but sensitive individuals may experience severe, life-threatening allergic reactions.

Hive Removal Specialists

Structural Termite and Pest Control offers bee, wasp, and yellow jack removal services. Request a Free Consultation Online or call us today 1-800-696-7379