Bees in walls and roofs

A colony inside the wall or roof is another matter from a swarm on a branch. If they are honey bees, they build sheets of wax comb and store honey in the cavity, and the whole nest has to come out, which usually means opening the wall or ceiling. If they are bumble bees, the nest is small, holds next to no honey and dies out within a few months, so leaving it is often fine. This page explains how to tell the two apart, the signs of a nest in a wall, why sealing the hole first is a mistake and what removal involves.

Play film, 3:16

Honey bees or bumble bees?

Watch the entrance on a warm day. Honey bees are small, slim and brown, and dozens use the same gap every minute. Bumble bees are big, round and furry, often black with yellow or buff bands, and only a few come and go each hour. That one difference decides most of what follows, so check before you ring anyone.

Bright yellow and black, shiny and narrow-waisted means wasps, not bees. Ring a pest controller for those.

Bumble bees often nest in walls, under floors and under houses because the queen looks for dry cavities such as old mouse nests. The NZ Bumblebee Conservation Trust says they aren't aggressive and do no structural damage. The bumble bee page covers when to leave one.

Signs of bees inside a wall

The clearest sign is a steady flow of bees through one gap: a split in a weatherboard, a gap at the eaves, a vent, a hole in the soffit or around a pipe. You may also hear a hum through the wall on a warm afternoon, find bees inside near light fittings, or, with an older nest, see a dark greasy patch or smell something sweet where honey has soaked through.

Catch it early if you can. A colony that arrived this spring is much smaller than one that has been there a year or two. Before you ask anyone for a price, note:

• Where the entrance is and how high off the ground
• Roughly how many bees use it, and whether that is growing
• How long they seem to have been there
• Whether bees are getting into rooms
• Any stains, damp patches or smells on inside walls or ceilings

A short video from a safe distance helps whoever comes to look.

Why the whole nest has to come out

Because the comb, honey and wax stay behind when the bees go. Bee researchers at the University of Georgia and UC Riverside both explain that once the colony is dead, nothing keeps the comb cool, so it can sag or melt and honey can seep into linings and ceilings. The old nest also draws robbing bees and future swarms.

There is a disease reason too. American foulbrood is a deadly bacterial disease of honey bee larvae. NZ Bee Health and Biosecurity says it spreads when bees rob honey from weak or dead colonies. A dead nest in a wall is an open larder for every hive nearby.

Ask for a written quote

Tell us what you're seeing and we aim to phone you back the same working day. A swarm in the open? Try a beekeeper first: it is often free.

Your name Mobile or landline Email Suburb Street address so the technician can price the visit What is it? Pick the closestBumble bee nest that has to goHoney bees living in a wall, roof or chimneySwarm that is high up or hard to reachNot sure if they are bees or waspsSomething else How soon? Today or tomorrowThis weekIn the next few weeksJust pricing it up Where are the bees, how high, and how long have they been there? optional

Send my details so the technician can phone or email me about this job. I have read the privacy notice. Request my quote

Quotes and the job itself are handled by an independent Auckland bee and pest operator who works with us, and what you send reaches them directly.

What happens if you block the hole?

Sealing the entrance of a live nest rarely ends it. The bees are still inside and will look for another way out, sometimes through a light fitting, a gap in the skirting or a ceiling vent, and into the house. If the colony dies behind the seal, the comb and honey are still in the cavity.

The right order is to take the nest out, clean the cavity and then seal every gap the bees used. Sealing is the last step, not the first, because the smell of an old nest makes the same cavity attractive to future swarms.

Will spraying the wall work?

Not on an established honey bee colony. The University of Georgia says insecticide only really works on bees that have just moved in. After that the dead bees, comb and honey stay in the wall, and UC Riverside warns that poisoned honey harms any bees that rob it.

That doesn't mean killing the colony is never the answer. Rehoming bees from inside a wall is slow and skilled, and an Auckland swarm collector says plainly that opening a wall is invasive and expensive with no guarantee. Where a beekeeper can't take the job, a pest controller may destroy the colony instead. If that happens, ask how the comb and honey will be dealt with afterwards.

How removal works

For an established honey bee colony it nearly always means opening the wall, ceiling or roof, cutting out every comb, collecting the bees, cleaning the cavity and sealing up. A beekeeper doing a cut-out will try to save the bees and hive them. Either way the opening has to be repaired, sometimes by a builder.

On the day it usually looks like this:

1. Find where the nest sits, by watching the bees and listening and tapping along the wall.
2. Open the cladding, lining or ceiling over it.
3. Cut out the comb and honey, and collect the bees (and the queen, if possible).
4. Clean the cavity so nothing is left to melt or attract other bees.
5. Seal the entrance and, depending on the quote, close up the wall.

Anyone who keeps rescued bees must be a registered beekeeper. Ask whether the price covers the repair or only the bees, as that is where quotes differ most. The cost guide has the published figures.

If the bees here don't match yours, the front page on bee nest and colony removal in Auckland sets swarms, bumble nests and wall colonies side by side.