HONEY BEE CONTROL
The industrious and useful honey bee is endangered in Newtown and across the country. This means that pest management professionals exercise exceptional care when they are called in to deal with honey bee problems.
Most of the time honey bees are not an issue. They forage in flowering plants and trees, performing essential pollination duties. Additionally, honey bee hives produce honey, which is a welcome commodity. It is for reasons such as these that most people are happy to see honey bees in gardens and agricultural fields.
However, honey bees can become a nuisance. This typically occurs when the honey bees place their nest either too close to or even inside a man-made structure. It is never advisable for honey bees and humans to be in such close proximity. This is because the honey bees are virtually guaranteed to feel threatened at some point, and this will lead to a stinging attack.
Honey bees have a barbed stinger. Consequently, they can only sting once because a significant portion of their body is left behind in the victim with the stinger. They die after stinging.
To preserve honey bee populations, it is a good idea for people to give them a wide berth. When honey bee hives are placed too close to residences and commercial buildings, this may become impossible.
If honey bees are a nuisance, then it is time to contact a pest management company. Working in concert with a local beekeeper, it is possible to safely relocate the hive so that no harm comes to the bees.
WHAT DO
HONEY BEES
LOOK LIKE?
Most honey bees are dark brown or black with yellow stripes. Those stripes are a warning to predators and unwelcome visitors that the honey bee is an insect that stings. Their bodies are thicker than a wasp's body and shaped like an oval. Like other insects, they have six legs and antennae. Honey bees tend to be quite hairy. Adult workers are approximately 15 millimeters long.
The eyes, feeding structures and antennae are located on the honey bee's head. They have compound eyes that help the bee to see color and light as well as simple eyes that help the honey bee determine how much light is present. With the antennas, the honey bee detects odors and measures flight speed. Honey bees have a multi-purpose mandible that helps with eating pollen, shaping and cutting wax, grooming, fighting, cleaning the nest and feeding the queen and her larvae.
WHAT DO
HONEY BEES
EAT?
Worker bees spend much of their time foraging for pollen and nectar. Typically, it is the older workers who perform this task because they are stronger fliers. Honey bees have a "honey stomach" that is located in the gut. This is where nectar is stored after being collected. Honey bees also are equipped with a basket on the hind legs in which pollen is kept. When the bees are loaded to capacity, they return to the hive to store the pollen and nectar. Certain members of the colony that are called "nurse bees" turn pollen into royal jelly to be fed to the queen, her larvae, the drones and the older worker bees. Nectar is stored and converted into honey.
WHERE DO
HONEY BEES
LIVE?
The honey bee hive is central to the life of the colony. It is where honey is produced and stored, and it is the food that is kept in the hive that feeds the honey bees through the winter when it is not possible to forage for pollen and nectar.
The hive consists of tubes, each of which has six sides. This shape is ideal for producing honey because it holds the most honey and requires less wax to construct. Honey bees produce wax that they chew until it is softened. Large quantities of this wax are bonded together as honeycomb. Hives may be found in hollow trees and rock crevices, though it is possible that a nest may be found inside a man-made structure.
WHAT DO
HONEY BEES
EAT?
Members of this species frequently are found hovering around flowering plants and trees. This is because they eat the pollen and nectar that are produced by flowers. Pollen contains essential protein while the nectar has the sugar that bumble bees need for energy.
Bumble bees produce honey by chewing pollen and mixing it with saliva. The developing young and the queen are fed with the honey.
DAMAGE CAUSED BY
HONEY BEES
For the most part, honey bees are not considered a dangerous or destructive species. The exception to this may occur should scout bees decide that a wall void, attic or other portion of a man-made structure is an appropriate place to put a hive.
No damage occurs as long as the honey bees are in residence. They are scrupulous housekeepers and their unique biology keeps the hive at a constant temperature that is ideal for maintaining the wax structure.
However, honey bees do not stay in the same nest forever. If a hive inside a man-made structure is abandoned, the honey and wax comb begin melting. This quickly fouls the insulation, siding and wall board. Some buildings develop serious mold and mildew issues if the rotting nest is not entirely removed.
A licensed pest management company can accomplish this removal to help preserve the residential or commercial structure.
ARE
HONEY BEES
AGGRESSIVE?
Honey bees are a gentle species that typically tries to avoid confrontations with people. They are most likely to display territorial behavior while in the vicinity of their hive, which is why a nest inside a building can be dangerous. As long as people try to minimize their contact with honey bees in Newtown, there is little reason to fear a stinging attack.
DO
HONEY BEES
CARRY DISEASE?
No illnesses are transmitted from honey bees to people through stings or other contact. Most sting victims experience a localized reaction with slight swelling, redness, itchiness and pain.
Other people are subject to a moderate reaction that may involve extreme redness and swelling. Still others may have a severe allergic reaction that may include symptoms such as hives, flushed skin, problems with breathing, swollen tongue and throat, rapid pulse, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, diarrhea and loss of consciousness.
HOW TO DETECT
HONEY BEES
Signs of a bumble bee presence include:
• Unexplained dark patches on ceilings or walls
• An excessive number of bees outdoors
• Regularly encountering honey bees indoors
• Visual sighting of a nest with active bees around it
HOW TO PREVENT
HONEY BEES
Bumble bees are less likely to nest where::
• Eliminating possible shelter by closing up gaps and holes in building exteriors
• Performing regular property inspections to check for signs of new hive construction
• Covering chimneys to ensure that pests cannot enter
• Covering or filling in holes in trees
• Placing mesh screens over water meter box key holes, irrigation valve boxes and attic vents
• Removing debris and trash that may serve as shelter for a colony
• Keeping shed and garage doors closed tightly
• Placing screens on all exterior doors and windows
HOW TO TREAT FOR
HONEY BEES
Newtown Termite & Pest Control understands how vital honey bees and bumble bees are to the local ecosystem. As such, we recommend contacting a local bee keeper for the safe removal of honey bees and bumble bees from area homes and businesses.
