We have a well established bee hive in an unused chimney. It has been there for several years, never bothered us, but now we need to do work on the flue. Yes, they are honey bees not hornets or wasps, although we have them too, just not in the chimney. As best we can tell the hive is in the upper section of a closed off fireplace on the second floor.
How about bees? We have a weird problem with them. Our house is brand new (built in 2001), that first summer we had would get bees in one of the spare bedrooms, but nowhere else. They acted strange too, they were slow and sluggish (and easy to kill fortunately). I found a nest on the outside of the house near that bedroom, sprayed the crap out of it and knocked the nest down in the winter. The next summer (2002), almost no bees. Mission accomplished.
This year, though, they’re back. This time, it’s in the living room and nowhere else. I looked all over outside and couldn’t find a nest. I should add I live in Wisconsin, so we’ve only had a few warms days so far, so I suspect the bees are already here somewhere since they probably couldn’t have already built a new nest this early.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Are the do it yourself termite preventative treatments now available at home depot worth the expense? They appear to be some kind of stakes or units that are buried at intervals. I don’t know any brands or ingredients.
Is it true that termite inspector’s have longer probes?
bbbill, honeybees are a protected species, and therefore illegal to kill. Honest, they are, at least in New York. I suspect they are elsewhere too. See, they’re a beneficial insect, seeing as how they produce a crop. Other stinging insects, like hornets or wasps can be treated with chemicals, but for honeybees I recommend you call a beekeeper. S/he should be able to calm the bees down and remove the nest safely. Look in the Yellow Pages for beekeepers or call your local co-operative extension (possibly even county Animal Control might be able to point you in the right direction). When you speak to the beekeeper, explain where the nest is, so that they’re prepared when they get there.
jk1245, you probably are experiencing a satellite nest from the one you dealt with previously. Your problem in treating it yourself may be that they’ve made their nest inside the wall somewhere. This is quite common. They find a small hole that allows them access inside a soffit or behind the siding, and their sheltered and safe from predators. You may need to observe closely from the exterior to watch and see where they go when they return to the house. Once you find the access point, treating with an insecticide dust is really the only way to adequately deal with it.
Once again, a Google search under “insecticide dust” brings up sites that will ship (but not to certain states, and again, be aware of your local laws and liabilities. And please, please read the label and follow directions. This stuff is not to be taken frivolously.)
You’ll need a hand-held duster (which I imagine can be ordered online as well). Inject some of the dust into the access hole and stand back. If the bees swarm out of nowhere and hover all around the hole, you’ve probably hit the nest, and it will be gone in 24 hours. The best time to actually treat is either shortly after dusk, when most of the bees have come back to the nest, or early in the morning, before they leave for work.
You’ll probably want to wear a long-sleeved shirt and a hat, also. People are amazed that I don’t wear a bee veil and a hazmat suit when I do applications, especially for bees, but I only get stung about once a season. If you work fast, and stay out of their flight line, you’ll probably be okay.
Ca3799, termite treatment is NOT a do-it-yourself proposition, no matter what anyone tells you.
Baiting systems have become popular recently, with the advent and success of DowAgroScience’s Sentricon[sup]R[/sup] termite elimination baiting system. It’s the one my company uses, the one I am most familiar with, and the one I am convinced is best.
All baiting systems work on the same basic premise: the termites are somewhere under the ground, foraging away, and if we put something they think is food under the ground, we’ll be able to introduce an agent which will kill them.
This is dandy on the face of it, but presents problems the layman may not be aware of.
The active ingredient in any bait is the vital link. Most other baiting systems contain a stomach poison. The Sentricon[sup]R[/sup] bait contains an Insect Growth Regulator, hexaflumeron. This is an advantage over stomach poisons, which kill too quickly and may A) prevent the workers from getting back to the nest to distribute the poison and B) create an aversion to the bait by having a bunch of dead workers piled up around the bait. (Hey, if you went to a restaurant and there were a pile of dead bodies in the parking lot, wouldn’t you find another place to eat?)
The IGR, on the other hand, is hormone-based. It is a chitin synthesis inhibitor, so when the termites molt, they can’t grow another exoskeleton, and they die. The molting cycle can take up to three weeks, so the bait gets distributed throughout the colony. Eventually, either the whole colony is affected, or else enough of the workers die so that not enough food is being gathered and the colony starves.
Keep in mind that all these methods kill termites. Sentricon[sup]R[/sup] is the only one proven to eliminate the colony. There’s a big difference.
Sentricon[sup]R[/sup] is available only through an authorized company, so don’t look for it in stores. The other methods, whether do-it-yourself, or done through a contract with a termite company, may kill some termites, but can’t tell you they’re going to eliminate them completely.
I got a big flashlight, too. Wanna schedule an inspection? 
Dave, do you know anything about grubs? I’m thinking they might be out of your area of expertise since they don’t try to get inside the house, but I figured I’d ask.
My yard has moles (not to be confused with Evil Nazi Groundhogs ;)), and I gather they wouldn’t be there if I didn’t have grubs lurking under my lawn for them to feed on.
But “hired killer” had both of 'em beat. 
What’s the biggest rat you’ve ever taken out?
And what do you know about getting rid of spiders? Little black spiders.
I think Dave took out the Giant Rat of Sumatra, but he was on vacation at the time, so it didn’t count in the NEL (National Exterminator League) Stats.
I bought and never used a couple of Lentek Pest Control II things.
They use “electromagnetic” and “ultrasonic” features to drive insects away.
Are these any good?
Will I go crazy if I use it?
Have you ever come home to find your wife shooting up bug powder?
RTFirefly, I don’t do lawns and ornamentals (charming license category, though isn’t it?). All I know about grubs is from the Scott’s commercials I hear on the radio. I don’t know if moles go after grubs, but I know skunks and raccoons do. Are there little holes dug in your lawn where these little bar sinisters might be digging grubs out?
Are there brown patches on your lawn that can be rolled up like a carpet? Grubs eat the roots of grass, so these are the telltale signs, from what I understand.
peepthis, I can’t exactly say what the largest rat was, but the most unpleasant rat experience was when one got its tail caught in a snap trap at the Animal Control center I was treating. It was still alive, of course, and struggling to get away. I had to borrow a shovel from the shed and bludgeon it. Eew.
Marine_One, as I mentioned earlier in this thread, I believe the jury’s still out on ultrasonic and magnetic pest repellants. I believe they’ll work for a while, but once the animals get used to them, they just become part of the environment. White noise. Unless they actually do cause some kind of discomfort or pain. But I’ve heard mixed reviews about them.
Athena, no, I keep all my supplies on my truck, so she doesn’t have access to them. What does happen is that when I come home she tells me about all the spiders and silverfish she’s killed around the house in the past few days. The cobbler’s children, don’t you know.
Dave, the holes in my yard are tunnels just under grassroot level. There are a few openings from the tunnels to the surface. The lawn seems to be healthy. I’ve had moles more or less continually for the past 3-4 years, and the neighbors have 'em too.
I’ll do some Web research and see what I can find out. The bags of grub stuff in the hardware store say the time to kill grubs is between July and November, when they’re active. The moles are there pretty much year-round, though, and I gotta wonder what they feed on, the rest of the time.
That sure sounds like mole-a-rama, RT. They’ve got to be eating something.
Dave, what about milkweed bugs. Those little red and black bastard the damnyankees call Box Elder Beetles.
We’ve had infestations of them every damn year for the last five (several Dopers can attest to this). This year they got in the house and some of the damn things are alive to this day (having avoided the worst winter in years).
When did these things become terminator bugs (unkillable and immortal)? And what’s the best way to get rid of them? We have one (1) set of milkweed plants near our property way the hell over there but they seem to swarm near the walkway and the doors of the house.
And when like…10,000 of the bastards swarm all together and they like…um…you know…yeah.
Hoo boy.
Boxelder beetles are numerous, but not dangerous or destructive. I believe they swarm against the sides of houses to stay warm when the weather is starting to change (mostly from summer to autumn, in my experience. I don’t know how active they are in the spring, and it may vary from region to region). They seem to cling to to the side that faces the sun, and is therefore warmer. I’ve been told the only way to stop them is to get rid of the plants in which they breed.
A broadcast spraying of the exterior walls of the house will probably cut down on their activity, and maybe cause an aversion factor, but I don’t know if it’s even proper to target them, to tell you the truth.
It’s a somewhat common misconception that if there are bugs around your house, it’s your God-given right to kill them, especially if there are a lot of them. But you wouldn’t say that about a profusion of butterflies. And some insects, like ladybugs and honeybees, are protected species. It may be that boxelder beetles are innocuous enough to not warrant targeting. State and local regulatory agencies would probably have the final word on that.
Even if they get into your house, they may not be considered pests. I refer again to the ladybug. I’ve seen them in peoples’ houses plenty of times, but I can’t target them.
You’ve piqued my curiosity, though, JC. I’m going to do a little research on them and see what I can find.
Well, I’ll be dipped.
There’s much useful information on boxelder bugs here.
Now, keep in mind that this site is only advocating a product to use for this insect. Whether or not the product can be used in your state or whether you can target that particular insect is up to you to research.
I’ll state it again, every state has a regulatory agency that determines what pesticides can be used, and (I believe) what insects can and cannot be targeted. I’m not saying that state agents are going to leap out of the bushes and arrest you if you spray something you’re not supposed to spray, or kill an insect you’re not supposed to kill, but the responsibility and liability is yours and yours alone.
Well, I have had the electronic pest repeller going for a week, and I haven’t noticed any difference in the ants, at least not due to that.
The funny thing is that I noticed a spider web between the heater and the wall post, where the ants are coming out. In direct line of sight from the pest repeller, which is supposed to work for spiders, too.
Now the spider has caught a lot of ants, as there are a myriad of tiny ant carcasses under the web, and this is just since Sunday morning, which is when I noticed the web for the first time. Haven’t had the chance to whip out the vacuum yet, but will do so tomorrow after work.
Marine_One hope you saved your packaging and receipt, just in case. I am going to unplug mine and return it. Plus, even after a week, I can still hear it clicking.
Hope you don’t mind a little bump…
I have a question about crickets. My SO purchased a new home in March and has had some problems with crickets. We live in the Mojave desert, if that matters. What are some things he could do to eliminate their presence in his home? He’d like to stay away from harsh chemicals, if possible.
Also, how effective can cats be for pest control? If he bought a kitty, would it eat the crickets?
Thanks in advance.
Might as well join in…
Would those little house-lizards count as pests? We’ve had a bit of an infestation lately, I spot two or three every week and just the other day I stepped on a baby one by accident. They obviously find the habitat rather accommodating, and usually mind their own business and stay out of our way, but I’m still concerned because no one wants their apartment overrun with these little bastards.
What should I do? Would the local pest control dudes deal with lizards?