Honey bee colony inside the wall?…”Extermination” alone isn’t enough!featured

If someone recommends exterminating (by chemical poisoning) an established honey bee colony inside a home wall cavity without also removing the honeycomb structures, Bee Wary!   This method may lead to further complications!

Honeycomb left without attending bees will attract wax moths, which will hatch and may end up flying all over the living space of the home.

Honey bees have an acute sense of “smell” and any local bees foraging in the area will come to “clean out” the poisoned honeycomb, and end up poisoning their own colonies as well.

Any birds feeding on the now-toxic bees will get a dose of the poison as well.

Other honey bees may establish new colonies in the wall cavity, as they are attracted by pheromones, rotting dead bees and larvae, spoiled pollen stores, and dripping honey.

If left in place long enough, the dead organic material will lead to mold and fungus formation.

Bottom line:

Less-than-truthful or just ignorant removal contractors may say a colony cannot be removed and must be exterminated by chemical poison.  It’s probably more likely they just don’t know how to fully remove the colony and/or are recommending a “quick fix” to stop the bees, but not solving the bigger impending issue of leaving an unattended “dead-out” honey bee colony.

Ethical, knowledgeable contractors will recommend total removal of the bees (alive—not poisoning them) and all honeycomb structure.  Otherwise, multiple future problems will ensue.