About 30 percent of foods we consume on a daily basis were grown and flourished with the help of bees. These flying creatures that you often hear giving out some angry hum in your backyard are indeed nature’s gift.
Research reveals that San Diego has an exceptionally high number of honey bees compared to any other regions in the country. This is why it comes as no surprise that San Diego also ranked third all over the country in terms of honey production.
But bees, as useful as they are to our nature’s homeostasis, they can also wreak havoc when left to multiply within our residential property.
If San Diego is among the most favorite dwelling places of bees, how can you tell that your property has become one of their chosen homes (even without your consent)?
Here is a list of the most common signs of bee infestation.
Dark Spots on Walls
If you see some dark spots on the walls inside your home, this could be a sign that there are bees lurking inside or just behind these structures. Rooms upstairs or lofts that have been unoccupied for a longer period of time provide bees a perfect settlement area for their hives.
Note that bees can also make hives outdoors, in your old backyard fences or in your old furniture. These dark spots you see are traces of honey leaking into the walls or wood. These dark stains caused by sticky honey dripping through the walls can no doubt cause damage to your property.
Holes and Sawdusts
Seeing small piles of sawdusts anywhere in your property could also be a sign that you have carpenter bees around. The sight of bees crawling out of your wooden fences or old wooden furniture can be a bit scary.
These are the kind of bees that drill on your wooden fences, decks and roof eaves thereby causing sawdusts falling from them. These tunnels they create will be used as nesting sites. Male carpenter bees do not sting but they frighten people by aggressively flying around them.
Unfortunately, these carpenter bees have the capability to damage the integrity of any structure they happen to drill holes into. Small as they are but they can bore holes that are one inch deep.
There are also the so called masonry bees that you may find burrowing into mortar joints. You may also find these kinds of bees in the crevices of the walls. Although masonry bees are not harmful because they tend to avoid people, but having too many of them nearby can also be a nuisance.
The Buzzing Sounds
The buzzing sound of a bee can be hard to ignore. But a lot of people never took the time to examine why there are buzzing sounds around them. It’s only when these bees become too many to ignore that they start calling on the experts for help. If these buzzing sounds can be heard from the walls, then it is likely that a bee infestation is occurring.
Although bees do not have an organ for producing sound, they do have their wings that they use for vibrating and their spiracles where they could push air through in order to produce that buzzing sound.
When a group of bees start to produce its high-pitched buzzing sound it would mean they are about to swarm into a specific location. This buzzing sound could also mean they notice a disturbance in their hive.
Bees also produce somewhat an off-key sound once they find out that their queen is in danger. They also give off a different warning sound when hornets’ attack is imminent.
More Bees and Wasps
Most bee infestations occur in summer where the weather starts to get warm. When we talk about bee infestation it could mean thousands of bees as unwelcome occupants in your home.
If you can see more flying insects in and around your home in San Diego, CA, don’t just ignore it. Sometimes, we get so busy at work that we think of these flying insects merely as little creatures, too little to do us any harm.
But, what if they’re bees and are already building a huge hive in your home?
You can tell that there’s a beehive in your property if you notice yourself seeing more bees and wasps than usual.
Active Beehive
If you hear bees buzzing around, try to observe from a safe distance and see where these bees go. Follow their route to see where they placed their beehive. Note that active and inactive beehives may look similar at a distance.
One way to tell if the beehive is active is the presence of bees flying near or around it. But bees will no longer be visible once the sun has set. You can also see some broods within the comb and this is an obvious sign that the queen bee is busy there. Better yet, consider each hive that you see as something that is active to prevent yourself from getting harmed by bees.
Once you realize that a bee infestation is present in your property, chances are you will think about killing them or calling some professionals who will exterminate them.
The moment you see a bee hive or notice quite a large number of bees nearby, never make any attempts of spraying them with an insecticide or pouring hot water on them.
Unfortunately, killing these bees is not the best solution. In fact, killing them may serve as a temporary solution only. Remember that bees are capable of laying 2, 000 eggs within a day.
Not to mention the fact that killing thousands of bees is not good for the environment. So, what do you do?
The best thing that you can do to spare yourself from bee stings is call on the experts of bee removal services. These professionals will remove the bees safely and humanely, without putting you at risk of being stung.