A colony of honeybees has established itself in my fishing boat. It is an aluminum vessel with two “sealed” floatation chambers in the stern, one on either side of the outboard motor well. The bees are in the starboard chamber, having gained entrance through a missing rivet in a corner (yes, I play hard with my toys).
Because of where the hive is located, I cannot reach it without cutting open the chamber.
Any suggestions of what I can pump in through the bee-sized hole to kill the little buzzing bastards?
If that’s the only egress, plug up the hole with a bit of bathtub caulk. The bees trapped inside will die ina few days, while the bees trapped outside will hover around the former opening, eventually dying in a day or two.
Any suggestions as to a specific nasty chemical? Nothing I could find on my lunch break listed bees (since they are our insect friends, I suppose) as a target so I bought some hornet and wasp spray. Hymenoptera is hymenoptera…
Something else that you may be interested in looking at is insecticide dust. While it’s usually used for subterranian nests I think that it would do the trick nicely in this case as well. It can be applied with a turkey baster or what not.
A word of warning though… Depending on how big the nest is and how much honey is stored inside, you may risk secondary insect infestations or even leakage on warm days.
I had an interesting conversation with my exterminator following my last quarterly service. I had called a few weeks before that asking if they (the run-of-the-mill pest control place) would come out to take care of the swarm that had taken up residence in the stand of bamboo approximately 10 yards from my back door. The receptionist said that they didn’t handle bees, and that I should call a beekeeper, which I did. I never did hear back from the beekeeper, and within 2 days the swarm had moved on, leaving proto-hive remnants on my bamboo.
Anyway, at the next regular service, I asked the guy why his company didn’t handle bees. He said that it was not because the bees were protected (had never occured to me) or that they were particularly difficult to handle but, as was alluded to by Anonymous, because the clean-up can be a real problem. Once the bees die, the honey and the hive itself will rot leading to a god-awful smell. He relayed a story of an apartment complex that had an infestation in the walls. His company came in to kill the bees, warning the owners of the potential rot problem. The owners ignored the warning but were eventually forced to remove several walls to dig out the mess and replace the drywall.
In any event, it sounds like you’ve got a plan to kill 'em, just be prepared for the consequences.
…don beekeeper clothes to avoid sting. Remove another rivet/drill hole in another side of boat. Pump in repellent to chase the bees away. Plug both holes… voilà, il n’y a pas de bees. (too lazy to look up “bees” in french…)
Perhaps a bit of thought should be given to just how sure you are that there is one, and only one entrance. Since bees depend on air movement to regulate hive temperatures, it seems very likely to me that another egress is likely to become evident, upon having the first one blocked.
It just might piss off the bees, too.
Tris
“To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.” ~ Sun-tzu ~
If they are indeed honey bees, they most likelly belong to a beekeeper. As such he would probably be interrested in recovering them.
How long have they been in the boat? It doesn’t sound like a normal spot for bees to set up camp, so it is possible that they will find this out themselves, and leave in a couple of hours. Swarming bees often do this - They try out quite a few locations before settling somewhere.
When bees are swarming, one trick used by bee-keepers to move them is to squirt some bitter almond concentrate[sup]*[/sup]. For some reason the bees hate this, and will do their best to get away.
On the positive side: swarming bees are generally not inclined to sting!
[sup]*[/sup]I’m not sure what this is called in Engish, but it is a concentrate made from bitter almonds, that can be used in cooking.
It just so happens that I have had nearly the exact same problem.
In my small aluminum boat, bees established a colony under the seat.
There is this wonderful thing called “Great Stuff” it is a spray insulation.
It sprays in, and hardens like a rock but has the density of styrofoam. Seeing as your flotation chamber is probably filled with styrofoam, this will probably be a fine thing to spray in there.
I used it in my boat, and the damn chemical is so toxic all the bees were killed or encapsulated in plastic, I think one or two managed to crawl out before they were frozen into tiny styrofoam statues.
Plus, you’ll be adding buoyancy to your watercraft. What more could you possibly want?
It works so well, I used it to kill a nest of yellow jackets in the wall of the house.
Spray it in, insulate, kill things, seals hole.
What a deal!
It’s about three bucks a can at any hardware store or Department. Buy lots. It’s more useful than duct tape.
Former beekeeper hobbyist here. This is unlikely. It is almost surely a wild swarm that has set up shop. No self-respecting beekeeper would be interested even if they did swarm from one of his hives, as we have an unpedigreed queen in the boat.
Most queens are replaced every year or two by specially bred queens. They are bred on Islands or enclosures typically so they don’t mate with wild bees.
Wild bees are of uncertain temperament, usually infested with mites, prone to foulbrood and other diseases, and are most often poor honey producers.
I am a little concerned about the expanding properties of the urethane foam. I wouldn’t want to split the seams. But that stuff should encapsulate the hive remnants.
So far as I can tell the colony was established within the past month. How large could a hive grow in four weeks?
(damn wet cold weather; if this were a normal year Clownfish would have been moving too fast since April for the bees to catch her…)
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by DrFidelius *
**Scylla:
Unless your float is made of tissue paper, I don’t think it would be a problem. Great stuff doesn’t seem to expand all that forcefully. It is designed to fill in small cracks in materials less strong than metal pontoons, and it remains soft as it expands so any excess should expand among the path of least resistance which would be the hole you sprayed it in. I wouldn’t spray 10 cans in there, but I think you’re safe with common sense and prudence.
It will nicely encapsulate your hive so that should be a nice benefit.
Impossible to guess. It will depend on the size of the swarm and how well they are doing. Swarm size will depend on the strength and space available to the hive that spawned the swarm.
As a guesstimate, you are probably talking about 15-50,000 bees in your swarm with the high/low being relative extremes. After a month you should have the first generation of new bees coming on line, and can expect a geometric accelleration as more mature from larvae every day and begin contributing to hive growth.
A new hive grows pretty fast, but it should also be loaded with bees, wax, and pollen at this point, and rotting won’t be a problem if you nip it in the bud and leave it there. They probably have not stored a lot of honey yet which is what would give you the most mass and the most potential for yucky rotting.
Again, I have sprayed Great stuff into both bee and wasp holes killing and sealing the hive with excellent success and no ill effects and I would guess that most house halls are more fragile than your flotation chambers.
I feel pretty confident in success for you if you follow my method, but of course there are no guarrantees that come with message board posts.