It’s probably a situation you’ve dealt with more than once – you find a bee hive or wasp nest on your property. Your immediate thought is to get rid of it as soon as possible, right? Unfortunately, that’s not always the best course of action. While you certainly can get rid of it, you may want to take a look at these tips first.
- Start by wearing the right clothing. The last thing you want to do is head out to take care of a nest wearing shorts and a tank top. You’ll want to wear lightly colored clothing. It should be smooth textured, too. Make sure you have on long sleeves and long pants. If you can get one, consider a beekeeper’s veil as well as leather gloves to help further protect you. Make certain you don’t wear perfume or cologne or even scented deodorant during the removal process, as it will only irritate them.
- If possible, use a bee smoker to calm the bees. Smoke masks the alarm pheromones that are released by guard bees or bees that are injured, interrupting their defensive response. In addition, smoke initiates a feeding response in anticipation of possible hive abandonment due to fire. When a bee consumes honey the bee’s abdomen distends, making it difficult to make the necessary flexes to sting.
- Do it in the evening or at night. Bees and wasps do actually sleep and become less active as the sun starts to go down, so you may want to time your nest removal project just right. The later and cooler it is, the less likely you are to get stung.
- Consider insecticide. There are lots of solutions on the market that may help you kill several of the bees and wasps before you actually manage to pull the nest, and you may want to consider those in addition to these other tips, as it could spell a much smaller chance of being stung when you try to remove the nest from your property.
If you’re concerned about handling the process on your own or it seems too infested to touch, give us a call. We’ll be happy to help eliminate the problem immediately!