“What if I just leave the bees in my house?”

(note:  Click photos for larger view)

I often am asked :  What will happen if I just leave the bees”, or “What if we wait?”.

The following pics are a graphic example of one possible scenario that can (and does) occur.

Scene:  In October of 2015, the homeowner observed bees swarming, and moving into a 2nd floor peak soffit area of his home.  I was called, and a removal date was set for mid October.  I arrived, and upon opening of the soffit – the bees were not found – they were actually in the roof line – above a finished-out 2nd story room.

The homeowner was made aware of the situation, and the options available.  I could (a) open up the drywall inside the house – which would have been the easiest method at the time because of the pitch of the roof.  or (b) – I could remove a section of roof shingles and decking above the colony.

The customer opted to wait.  I hadn’t heard back from him until a month ago (June 2016) – when he called to let me know that the house was to be re-roofed, and he was ready for the bees to come out – but if it could be coordinated with the roofer, so that the decking could be opened up and re-roofed at the same time.

We are NOW at the summer solstice.  The sun is farther north in the sky than it was in October.  The bees did not realize that their home would no longer be protected by the trees above in the heat of summer.  The comb melted, and dropped onto the drywall ceiling of the room below.  From the appearance of the comb and it’s condition – I’d say the comb dropped about a week ago.  It was a NASTY MESS.  (click any of the photos for a larger view)

First view:

A layer or two removed:

And the REAL nastiness is exposed:

Yes – the black in the bottom is the drywall – where honey and wax fell – and drained/dripped and seeped from the roof joist space – and impregnated the drywall.  Note also – the Small Hive Beetle larvae, and also Wax Moth larvae.  Yes – those are “maggots” – just not from flies.  The stench of the mess was horrible.

The mess filled (2) 5-gallon buckets with comb that was pretty nasty. Larvae, stench, etc…

After cleaning it all up, and scraping out everything possible, the space was filled with insulation, so that there would be no void available for bees to occupy in the future.  And the rest was left for the roofing crew to complete.

My view from the peak of the 2nd story roof peak: