February 22, 2012
Over the past week I have found 7 small weak bees either crawling or flying very slowly in one area of my. I can’t find a source and I have searched and searched. Is the source likely inside or are they coming in? We have had a very warm winter, the average temp is usually around 30 and today it is forecast for 55. Will this weather effect bees?
There are several species of bees that over winter or hibernate. And when it gets warm, they’ll become active. Based on the season, I’m leaning toward the ones you’re seeing as being carpenter bees although we also get reports of bumble bees and honey bees coming inside this early in spring too.
But carpenter bees are unique in that they hibernate in nests which they typically drill through the exterior siding of homes. Many times these nests can go undetected by the home owner and if left untreated, the bees can easily drill far enough into the wood so they’ll end up in the living space. In cases where this happens, we commonly have people report adult bees entering throughout the winter. And pupae that are developing will do the same thing; once they hatch they’ll seek the warmest point possible if they can’t get out through their normal exit hole and this will many times lead them inside the home.
Another common occurrence we find happening is that people will commonly seal up holes they find when doing some exterior work on their home. In some cases they’ll hire a handyman to fix something or paint something and in the process, he’ll seal some carpenter bee holes. In other cases we find people are doing a lot of exterior sealing of their home to help save on heating and cooling costs. In both cases one can easily seal up carpenter bee or bumble bee entrance/exit holes. This will inadvertently force the now trapped members of the nest to find an alternate way out of their nest and this can many times lead them inside to living spaces. More about this happening with carpenter bees can be read in the following post:
This can also seal up eggs which eventually turn to adults. And with the normal exit hole now sealed, they’ll have no way to go but in.
So to answer your question; weather will always affect bees as it does most any insect. And no doubt the warmer it is outside, the more active insects will get.
As for how the bees are getting into your home; there are so many small cracks and crevices through which bees can enter any home it’s not possible to find them all. But what is possible is that once it gets warm enough, you should be able to locate where any are nesting if they are able to establish a new flight path and they want to keep using your home as a nest site.
Now whether you have carpenter bees, honey bees or bumble bees is anyone’s guess unless you can properly id the ones you’re finding. This is important because they’ll all be treated differently. For carpenter bees, the treatment will be easy using the DEMISE DUST listed in our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL article.
But if it turns out you have bumble bees or honey bees, you’ll need to read up on them first before treating since they require a different approach as explained in the following articles:
Bumblebee Control: https://www.bugspray.com/articles99/bumblebees
Carpenter Bee Control: https://www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control
Demise: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/dust/drione-demise-dust-6-oz
Filed under BEES INSIDE MY HOME