Have you noticed that your home seems to attract honeybees? Throughout America, honeybees can form new colonies from April to October. And if your property has the right environment, it could become the target of a queen bee and her workers as they search for a nesting site.
If honeybees do build a nest in your home, you'll see increased activity during summertime. The bees use the light of the longer days to harvest nectar for the coming winter.
If you suspect that you have a honeybee hive somewhere in your home, then the following factors might be responsible for attracting them to your property.
Abundance of Flowering Plants
Honeybees need flowers and their nectar to create honey. This is especially true during the summer when honeybees use nectar to create honey reserves to get the colony through winter. This means that honeybees will choose a nesting site somewhere near flowers.
Flowers are nice to have around on warm summer days, but they could attract a honeybee queen and her swarm. Fortunately, honeybees need more than just flowers to survive.
Pheromones of Former Hives
The honeycombs of a beehive contain pheromones. And even if bees no longer occupy that nest, the pheromones will remain unless you remove the honeycombs completely. Honeybees use pheromones to communicate with each other. And if an old hive on your property still contains a honeycomb, the pheromones emanating from the hive could attract a queen and her swarm.
If you are aware that your home used to have a beehive and suspect that some of the honeycomb remains, you need a bee removal expert to remove that honeycomb. Once they have removed it, they can clean the area and remove all traces of the pheromones.
Old and Unused Appliances
Honeybees will nest anywhere that can provide them with enough space to build their hive. But unlike bumblebees, which nest underground, honeybees tend to nest above ground. When a queen sends out her scouts to search for a suitable nesting site, those scouts will search for somewhere that will provide shelter and warmth through the coming winter.
Old and abandoned appliances, such as grills or lawnmowers, will provide enough shelter for a new hive to thrive. Rarely-used sheds or structures pose a similar risk.
A Nearby Water Supply
Like any living creature, honeybees also need water to survive. This means that a honeybee queen and her swarm will only nest somewhere that is in close proximity to a water supply. Water supplies could come in the form of ponds, stagnant pools, and even leaking air conditioner units or sprinklers.
Holes, Cracks, and Gaps
If you have seen honeybee swarms around your home, then now is a good time to seal any potential entry points. Honeybees will enter a home through cracks, holes, and gaps, but if the scouts decide that there isn't enough room for the nest, they will leave.
You'll have a problem on your hands, however, if the honeybee scouts decide that a hole in your roof will provide shelter and space for a hive. Those scouts will then release pheromones to attract the other bees.
Do you suspect that you have a honeybee hive on your property? Don't attack or destroy it. Bees are essential to our food production and pollinate about 35% of the world's food crops. Instead, call a professional pest control service to remove the nest safely and humanely.
Call Monterey Pest Control Inc. today and our
live bee removal
team will remove the hive for you. You can then ensure that those honeybees continue to pollinate our food crops from the safety of a new nesting site somewhere in the wild.