MAN vs. BEES
There are two separate bumble bee nests on my property at the moment. and when I say "bumble bee", I really mean "gigantic, black and yellow, furry stinging machines". Likely, I haven't actually been stung yet....yet. However at the rate things are going, there will inevitably be casualties on both sides of the war.
Let me begin with the saga thus far...
Nest One:
We own a brick house. But unfortunately, in order to have electrical power delivered to the inside of the house, there must be a hole drilled into the brick somewhere for the power cable to run in. The bees found this hole.
At first, I sprayed the opening here and there, mostly after witnessing a scout or worker bee entering or exiting. Getting frustrated at my lack of results in trying to dissuade the bees from prolonging their stay, I decided to unload a whole can of wasp and hornet spray directly into the hole. I then sat back and tried picking off the ones returning and hovering around, sensing something was wrong with there community entrance. This seemed to stop them at the time, but I was in for a longer, dirtier battle.
The next day much to my wife's dismay, it was discovered that the bees had found their way into our basement. About 50 or so lay littered about, dead on the floor and among our belongings. We cleaned this up...correction..I cleaned this up and had hoped it to be the end of their squatting. It wasn't.
I soon noticed in the days to come that bees still came and went through the hole in the house. I again hosed down the opening with another can of bee death. This time, no scattered carcasses in the basement. I was out of spray at this point, and still a few bees came here and there, so I waited until sun down. I then proceeded to spackle shut the opening once and for all. I had hoped that there were not that many remaining occupants, but feared those left would surely then find there way into the basement.
This morning I went down into the basement. When I rounded the corner and got close to the wall containing the hole, I heard the buzzing. About 10-15 estranged bumble bees flew around the ceiling. Oddly enough, most clung to a wooden wire clip on the ceiling. The others were fascinated by the light bulbs. Remember, I was out of bee killer at this point so I had to think quick. I left and soon came back with WD-40 and a lighter in my hands.
I took out the largest gathering first, the ones agitated and attacking the light bulb. One quick flame burst dropped them all to the floor, buzzing and writhing in pain. Then I moved on to the other pockets of bees. In about 10 minutes I was done. I ended by stepping on the buzzing ones on the floor. I then waited, silently listening for more buzzing. I heard none. We will see tonight if the war is over with this faction. Onto the nest group...
Nest Two:
A couple weeks ago, I was innocently mowing my lawn. Right about when I was finished, I was mowing the portion of my lawn near my driveway and the street. I don't know what made me turn around, but something did. Right where I had just walked over, bumble bees were shooting out of the ground like Old Faithful. Without thinking, I turned and pushed the lawn mower over the hole and took off. Unfortunately for me, the mower shuts off when you let go of the bar. Now I had to retrieve the mower amongst the angry warriors.
I waited a few minutes until they calmed down and quickly retrieved the mower. I finished up the mowing and went to get a can of bee spray (this story runs parallel to the other one, I still had some spray). I unloaded about half a can into the hole and took out any of the bastards angrily hovering around. Again, I was faced with disappointing results. The next weekend, I unloaded more spray into the hole. The grass around the hole was brown and dead. Still, I couldn't best my winged combatants. Then I got a good idea. I got the hose and stuck it in the hole. I then went to the house and turned it on. I let this run for about a half hour, watching as confused bees hovered around. The strange part is that no water washed up out of the hole. I figured at some point, the ground's ability to absorb the water would fall behind the current rushing in and there would be a satisfying overflow of water, signalling the complete flooding of their hole. I knew they had to be resilient enough for rain showers, but did not think their home could withstand the onslaught of a hose. No such water appeared.
There must be a cavern beneath my yard. I pulled the hose and to my dismay, only had seemed to hinder the bees for a short time as they merrily continued entering and exiting the hole. I then grabbed a 10 pound rock and smacked it down overtop the hole. Two bees were getting ready to exit and I took great pride in sealing them in. I am not dumb, I am sure they must have some other way out, given the assumed massive volume of their lair underneath. I also imagine they will dig around the rock perhaps as well.
This was yesterday. On my way to work this morning, I did not see any activity pulling out of my drive, but who knows. I will keep you updated as to future developments!
Let me begin with the saga thus far...
Nest One:
We own a brick house. But unfortunately, in order to have electrical power delivered to the inside of the house, there must be a hole drilled into the brick somewhere for the power cable to run in. The bees found this hole.
At first, I sprayed the opening here and there, mostly after witnessing a scout or worker bee entering or exiting. Getting frustrated at my lack of results in trying to dissuade the bees from prolonging their stay, I decided to unload a whole can of wasp and hornet spray directly into the hole. I then sat back and tried picking off the ones returning and hovering around, sensing something was wrong with there community entrance. This seemed to stop them at the time, but I was in for a longer, dirtier battle.
The next day much to my wife's dismay, it was discovered that the bees had found their way into our basement. About 50 or so lay littered about, dead on the floor and among our belongings. We cleaned this up...correction..I cleaned this up and had hoped it to be the end of their squatting. It wasn't.
I soon noticed in the days to come that bees still came and went through the hole in the house. I again hosed down the opening with another can of bee death. This time, no scattered carcasses in the basement. I was out of spray at this point, and still a few bees came here and there, so I waited until sun down. I then proceeded to spackle shut the opening once and for all. I had hoped that there were not that many remaining occupants, but feared those left would surely then find there way into the basement.
This morning I went down into the basement. When I rounded the corner and got close to the wall containing the hole, I heard the buzzing. About 10-15 estranged bumble bees flew around the ceiling. Oddly enough, most clung to a wooden wire clip on the ceiling. The others were fascinated by the light bulbs. Remember, I was out of bee killer at this point so I had to think quick. I left and soon came back with WD-40 and a lighter in my hands.
I took out the largest gathering first, the ones agitated and attacking the light bulb. One quick flame burst dropped them all to the floor, buzzing and writhing in pain. Then I moved on to the other pockets of bees. In about 10 minutes I was done. I ended by stepping on the buzzing ones on the floor. I then waited, silently listening for more buzzing. I heard none. We will see tonight if the war is over with this faction. Onto the nest group...
Nest Two:
A couple weeks ago, I was innocently mowing my lawn. Right about when I was finished, I was mowing the portion of my lawn near my driveway and the street. I don't know what made me turn around, but something did. Right where I had just walked over, bumble bees were shooting out of the ground like Old Faithful. Without thinking, I turned and pushed the lawn mower over the hole and took off. Unfortunately for me, the mower shuts off when you let go of the bar. Now I had to retrieve the mower amongst the angry warriors.
I waited a few minutes until they calmed down and quickly retrieved the mower. I finished up the mowing and went to get a can of bee spray (this story runs parallel to the other one, I still had some spray). I unloaded about half a can into the hole and took out any of the bastards angrily hovering around. Again, I was faced with disappointing results. The next weekend, I unloaded more spray into the hole. The grass around the hole was brown and dead. Still, I couldn't best my winged combatants. Then I got a good idea. I got the hose and stuck it in the hole. I then went to the house and turned it on. I let this run for about a half hour, watching as confused bees hovered around. The strange part is that no water washed up out of the hole. I figured at some point, the ground's ability to absorb the water would fall behind the current rushing in and there would be a satisfying overflow of water, signalling the complete flooding of their hole. I knew they had to be resilient enough for rain showers, but did not think their home could withstand the onslaught of a hose. No such water appeared.
There must be a cavern beneath my yard. I pulled the hose and to my dismay, only had seemed to hinder the bees for a short time as they merrily continued entering and exiting the hole. I then grabbed a 10 pound rock and smacked it down overtop the hole. Two bees were getting ready to exit and I took great pride in sealing them in. I am not dumb, I am sure they must have some other way out, given the assumed massive volume of their lair underneath. I also imagine they will dig around the rock perhaps as well.
This was yesterday. On my way to work this morning, I did not see any activity pulling out of my drive, but who knows. I will keep you updated as to future developments!
posted by Chris at 4:57 PM
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