Somehow bees keep getting inside my window. It’s generally not really a big deal, as they usually just buzz at the window and don’t bother me, but one did sting me on my neck as I was sleeping one night! The windowsill has become a regular bee graveyard (well, without the graves). I’ve inspected the window(s), inside and outside, over and over and have found no likely point of entry for these bees. Is there something I should be looking for? Is it possible they’re coming in somewhere else entirely? I must know!
(I know this isn’t a question with a straightforward factual answer, but I’m hoping that maybe there are some commonly known suggestions as opposed to anecdotal, IMHO-type information.)
Are they bees, as in “honeybees” or “bumblebees”, or are they yellowjackets? I see that you’re in WI; here in IL, especially in September, individual yellowjackets will hang around the outside doors and sneak in whenever you open the door. I suppose they’re following the “sweet food” smells of the kitchen. And then they invariably end up in the windows, buzzing to get out.
I’ve found that it helps to make sure the outside screen door securely latches itself whenever someone comes in.
They’re just regular ol’ honeybees. I’m on the fifth floor of an apartment building, so they’re not following me inside unless they fly up the stairs or ride the elevator with me. I see a lot of them buzzing around outside a lot, so I have assumed they’re finding their way in somehow without my help.
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. I’ll keep searching, and maybe I’ll end up being the subject of one of those 11 o’clock news stories wherein someone has discovered zillions of bees inside the wall. (Wait, it’s 10 o’clock news here, isn’t it? Damn this Central Time Zone!)
Not always. When I was a kid there we had some that nested in the ceiling in my bedroom closet and they came out using the closet door. I wish they’d have used the window!
Never knew bees to be about after dark, they return to their nest/hive when the sun sets. Sure it wasn’t a spider, or a bedbug, which are on a comeback, IIRC. In the last few years two kinds of mites have all but wiped out wild honeybee populations. Have you positively identified these bees as honeybees? I’m not an entomologist, just someone who likes the industriousness of honeybees. Always hate to see them maligned, when it’s usually another insect. Hope you rectify your problem soon.
I actually had that situation in a room I rented once. A rather strange, reclusive woman had lived in the room upstairs from mine for years, and had tipped over a large jar of honey and never cleaned it up. The honey soaked down through the floor, and attracted bees from outside. They were nesting in the walls (probably why you are also seeing them outside), and would get into my room through any gap big enough for them to fit (gaps in floor around the steam registers, cracks in the plaster, etc.). They would then fly toward the windows (since they navigate at least partly by the sun), and collect and die.
Thus, I’m betting (based on personal experience) that OldGuy is exactly right. Have your landlord check it out. They can hire a beekeeper and get rid of them.
(I can’t vouch for “zillions” precisely, but there were a few times that I had enough live bees in my windows to completely block out the sunlight. Two o’clock in the afternoon, and my room was pitch dark. That was…unnerving, to say the least. Only got stung once, though: stepped on one barefoot.)
This very thing happened at our house when my parents had a nest of carpenter bees in the wall. They popped a hole out on the inside and started to fly toward the light from the windows. Look around the outside walls of the house very carefully, especially at the point where the wall meets the ceiling. Even if it’s in the early stage, you should be able to see a tiny hole.
It’s important to find their nest as early as possible, because eventually the wall around the hive will soften and bulge out.