August 20, 2009
Reeves and Gilli moved into Chatam House because their own home was invaded by honeybees. This is based entirely on facts and happens all too often.
Bees swarm most often in the spring and fall when a hive gets too crowded. The bees in the old hive choose a new queen. She flies off with the younger bees to establish a new colony and often does this in the walls or attic of an occupied home.
Honeybees like tiny openings that lead to large, dark spaces. They can bore into sheetrock but will not colonize where humans move about. They prefer outside walls or the attics of buildings. Bees should never be allowed to build hives in the walls of a structure. They become defensive of their hive once they have made honey and hatch baby bees. People (and even pets) who stumble into the paths of such bees may well be stung. Colonies that are left to grown inside building walls can produce massive amounts of honeycomb and honey, causing damage to the host structure.
Removing bees from such a hive usually involves tearing into the wall of the host structure. All of the bees, honeycomb and honey MUST be removed before repairs can be made. This often entails removing sections of wall and support beams saturated with the honey. A "bee wrangler" is usually needed to remove the bees, especially if the hive is sizable. General pest control procedures, such as simply spraying to kill the bees, are inadequate, and the average exterminator will not attempt a removal of an established colony. After the bees are removed, a builder can clean up the honey and remaining hive and make necessary repairs. It is best to keep bees from finding a way into the outside walls or attics of buildings by being certain that small holes and gaps are well plugged.
Unlike other bees, honeybees do not hibernate during cold weather. They feed on stored honey and share their body heat by clustering together. Honey bees are social insects, and a typical colony may contain as many as 90,000 individual bees.
Honey bees can fly up to 10 miles from their hive in search of nectar, from which they make honey, and can fly at speeds up to 15 mph. Honey is 80% sugars and 20% water.
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