BIG BEE problem!! help!!??

Question

Ok, i have a huge bee problem. For the past 2 years, these big bumble bees come to my front porch and think they can take over!! We have porch poles that have holes in the top and hopefully we are going to cloes them up. But i don't think it will help. We used bee spray(RAID) last year and it barley helped. Anyone have any ideas??? I need help!! also, BOTH of my parents are HIGHLY allergic to bees. I am TERRIBLY afraid of getting stung. I hear bees can smell fear and I have a lot of fear. It is so hard to surpass this bee problem. I need help and advice!!!! PLEASE HELP!!!

Answer 1

Well, these are Carpenter Bees, which are similar to Bumblebees but tend to bee more solitary. You'll notice that they're very territorial, and will often fight each other if one gets into another's space. Boarding up the holes won't do you much good - Carpenter Bees are very good at drilling holes into wood to make a place to nest. For what it's worth, they're pretty inoffensive to humans, but I agree they're very scary. I was never stung by any of them, even though I've lived with Carpenter Bees much of my life. On the other hand, I was stung by a Bumblebee once, and that was one of the worst stings I've ever had, so there may be some risk there. As to bees smelling fear, no, that's baloney - if that was a problem, I'd have been stung every day while I was growing up! They may zoom at you in a scary way, but they do that whether your scared or not. Since your parents are allergic (and therefore you may be too), I would reluctantly go along with the advice to go with an exterminator. The chances of a Carpenter Bee sting may be really small, but at least potentially the risk of a bad reaction seems pretty high.
In order to keep this problem from coming back every year, you might want to ask your local extension agent (should be someone at the local state college) how to Carpenter-Bee-proof your porch. It might take some sort of metal strips, or maybe there's a chemical treatment like a stain you can use.

Answer 2

While bumble bees are quite docile, and not prone to stinging, with a history of allergies I would agree that hiring an exterminator is probably your best choice.

With your mention that they seem to be nesting in the holes in your pole, it is also probable that these are not, in fact, bumble bees, but possibly carpenter bees. Also quite docile, but not quite the same critter.

Answer 3

Call an exterminator, and in the meantime make sure you're well stocked with EpiPen and an inhaler. Keep a bottle of Raid near the door.

Answer 4

With the history of allergies there, I would spend some bucks on an exterminator. It's cheaper than seeing doctors and going to emergency rooms.

Answer 5

http://www.pestproducts.com/bumble-bee-control.htm

This web site has some very informative suggestions. I know it's not as cut and dry as you'd probably like it to be, but there's a lot of easy-to-understand information there.

Sorry if you have to copy and paste this link.

Answer 6

Call an exterminator

Answer 7

the ones which are 'placing round' the doors are male, don't have any stingers and are simply patroling to ensure no different male bothers round 'their' nest web sites...... inform the baby to disregard the bees and simply move within the condominium slowly and flippantly.... if she's surely 'allergic', she has and is aware of easy methods to use her Epi-pen, proper?.....

Answer 8

like they say call an exterminator.

Answer 9

call an exterminator