# How long til insect death **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094 "2010-09-08T20:30:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/1 "2010-09-08T20:30:12Z")
Theres some hole in the bathroom window and I found a bee in there today. So i taped plastic over the window and i am wondering how long til it dies and I can quit worrying. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/2 "2010-09-08T20:35:29Z")
A worker bee will typically live about a month, give or take a few. Trapped, probably no longer than a day. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/3 "2010-09-08T20:36:57Z")
Peel the plastic back and stick your eyeball in there for a look around. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/4 "2010-09-08T20:44:20Z")
It’s a bee, what exactly are you expecting it to do to you? ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/5 "2010-09-08T21:29:09Z")
…and temperature. If it’s cold, the bee can’t really do much and often won’t sting. The bee could go into sleep mode and last a long time. I have revived bees from thawing snow so they can live for months under proper conditions. Without moisture and with hot conditions, it may die in hours. Much condensation can be generated in a window and the bee doesn’t need much. You could always kill it. Maybe close the window and spray from the outside through a screen if present. Take the initiative and attack it. You could use a vacuum like the professional bee keepers do at times. Can a bee escape a vacuum you ask? Maybe, so you can tape the inlet. Put some big spiders in the window for company. You got options. ---
**Author:** ![This\_Just\_In\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@This\_Just\_In\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_Just_In_2)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/6 "2010-09-08T21:32:02Z")
You want to quit worrying about your invasive arthropod problem? There is only one way to be sure… ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/7 "2010-09-08T21:59:19Z")
Poke a hole in the plastic. Insert RAID. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/8 "2010-09-08T21:59:29Z")
> [@BigBertha](#): > > … how long til it dies Send in the right person with a flyswatter and the answer is “Under a minute.” ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/9 "2010-09-09T07:00:20Z")
This evening I looked and the plastic had come loose and I saw the bee dead in the tub. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/10 "2010-09-10T17:58:28Z")
Now there are two dead ones by the bedroom windows and one jsut died there. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/11 "2010-09-10T19:10:22Z")
> [@BigBertha](#): > > i am wondering how long til it dies and I can quit worrying. They are bees. NEVER quit worrying. ---
**Author:** ![Hairy\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecc23a/32.png) [@Hairy\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hairy_Bob)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/12 "2010-09-10T21:29:32Z")
You people kill bees? They are perfectly harmless unless they are annoyed, they tend to die after stinging so they’re not likely to do it for kicks, are they? They play a very important role in pollinating plants and we’d be a lot worse off without them. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/13 "2010-09-10T21:56:53Z")
I have actually revived trapped bees (and wasps) with a spoon and a little sugar water. They drink, recover and fly away. They both pollinate flowers, wasps kill other insect pests and bees are frickin’ bees. Why all the freaky - scary? They only sting you if you threaten them or disturb their nest. If you know you are allergic stay away and always carry your epi-pen. People would seriously recommend spraying nerve toxin in your own home (with your own hands and lungs nearby) just to get rid of little bee?? If you are really scared use the vacuum as recommended above - works like a charm. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/14 "2010-09-10T22:32:38Z")
> [@Hairy\_Bob](#): > > You people kill bees? They are perfectly harmless unless they are annoyed, they tend to die after stinging so they’re not likely to do it for kicks, are they? They play a very important role in pollinating plants and we’d be a lot worse off without them. So go annoy some bees and come back and tell us how you feel. In my case, I ‘annoyed’ some bees simply by walking into a water pump building with a group of people to inspect some piping. First a bee or two appeared, then ten, then twenty. Uh wait, what the hell is going on? Thirty bees! And ouch, one sting on the back of my neck. I saw no need to wait to see if the count was going to go to forty bees. I was the last out of the building, ran to the truck (chased by hundreds of bees) and sped away with the windows down, chasing the bees that followed out of the cab. I ended up with a few stings. This is in the Southwest where there is a fair chance they are africanized bees. Lucky for us our outfit has an entomology shop, and those bastards were dead within two hours. Still, one guy lost two days work with a bad reaction to the stings. Kill them. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/15 "2010-09-10T23:59:45Z")
We had a neighbor look and sure enough our bathroom window had a nest and the next door neighbor (they are conjoined condos) had a bigger one. They also seemed to have eaten through the gutter. So I called the management and they quickly sent a Pest control company. The guy sprayed what he called thermidor(sp?) all around the outside of the windows. he said they should be deceased in about 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/16 "2010-09-11T20:46:17Z")
Well a nest is certainly a more serious issue. If they damaged the gutter is there possibly other damage? What is you gutter made of - I cant imagine what bees could do to a metal gutter. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/17 "2010-09-12T03:38:04Z")
> [@This\_Just\_In\_2](#): > > You want to quit worrying about your invasive arthropod problem? > > There is only one way to be sure… But he’s just a grunt…:eek: ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/18 "2010-09-12T05:32:33Z")
I’m hoping that spray worked, I looked out back at the windows and didn’t see any and there were none inside. Good stuff if that works. And it didn’t cost me anything. Can’t wait til winter now! ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-til-insect-death/553094/19 "2010-09-13T11:43:52Z")
> [@BigBertha](#): > > This evening I looked and the plastic had come loose and I saw the bee dead in the tub. > [@BigBertha](#): > > Now there are two dead ones by the bedroom windows and one jsut died there. When the film rights to the SDMB are sold, I can see a bidding war for this thread.