Plant & Pest Diagnostics

Honeybees

Wild (or feral) honeybees have been struggling to hang on ever since the Varroa Mite and Tracheal mite were introduced into Michigan back in the eighties. During the nineties one could go through an entire summer without seeing a single honeybee. Recently there have been signs of honeybee comeback of sorts. It is unfortunate that occasionally these swarms select interior compartments of homes for their new home. Honeybees are much more serious than wasps and yellowjackets when they decide to nest in our homes. With yellowjackets, one can simply kill the colony and leave the clean up to the carpet beetles. Not so with honeybees. Honeybees can store many, many gallons of honey in their colony to get them through the winter and it’s the honey that makes them far more complicated than yellowjackets. If one decides to kill off a hive of honeybees that has taken up residence in one’s home, then the honey, comb and dead bees have to be removed. Honeybees store their honey in wax combs. If the bees are not present to ventilate and cool the honeycomb with the beating of their wings, the wax melts and the honey is free to flow wherever gravity takes it. Besides the honey, there is the matter of the 1000’s of dead rotting bees (very smelly) to contend with too.

Be sure to read and follow all instructions and safety precautions found on the label before using any pesticide.