While harvesting honey, bees might consider your house to create new hives. Hence, they could be a nuisance as the hive starts getting bigger. Relocating them is a hustle. Making your home bee-proof is the best option. Let’s learn the tips to bee-proof your home when harvesting honey.
To make your home bee-proof, start fixing every crack on the wall and ceiling. Use dense meshes on ventilation ports. Cover your fireplace tunnel tops when unused. Keep track of swarm season. Further, check-up places like opening dog houses and mailboxes and cleaning them up.
Additionally, you might prefer planting bee-repellent plants like peppermint.
Tips to Bee-proof Your Home When Harvesting Honey From Bees
Below are the tips that will help you bee-proof your home immediately. Hence, there might also be other tips, but they will surely give you an edge. So, follow these tricks, and your home will resist future bee resting.
1. Use Smaller Meshes in Vents
As with older homes, the vents are one of the key points bees find to nest in. Moreover, the vents usually have wider holes, which allows bees to enter your house. You can secure a net as a preventive measure to stop bees from entering your house while keeping the ventilation running.
Most of all, the meshes of the net must be denser. According to the experts, going for nests such as the Number 8 hardware cloth is perfect. Make sure you use these kinds of nets.
2. Keep Track of Swarm Season (April To May)
In the swarm season, bees start looking for places to create a hive. You must be awarded during the swarm season to avoid getting a bee hive at the house. In general, this season occurs in the spring season. But it could vary depending upon the location you are living in.
During the mentioned session, you are likelier to get the most bees flying around home. As you sport bees gather in the house for a new hive, start taking action. Moreover, you should also track the best time to harvest honey for your area.
3. Keep Looking For Cracks Around The Pipe
Most of the time, the piping installation has cracks around them. It could appear over time even if they don’t have the installation time. This is why you should keep checking out the places around the pipes.
Fill it up even with cracks and holes around the existing pipe installation. You could use any bee-resistant element to fill it out.
Using foam would fill up the space, blocking any bees from making hives. Even after you fill the cracks, examine them from time to time.
4. Close Fireplace Tops
Fireplaces can be a great entry point for bees when they’re not being used. This is why you should cover the top of the fireplace when you are not using it. Doing so will help you avoid large numbers of bees entering your home.
Many homeowners have reported that bees love to get through the fireplace tunnel; you should always check it out. Clean it out after the winter season. Keep checking out whether the bees have nested in the fireplace tunnel. If you start sitting bee activity in the tunnel, start action quickly.
5. Check Out The Exterior of Your House
As you probably have seen, bees love to build hives on the exterior of your house. Old houses are more prone to getting huge bee hives. Hence, if you do have an older house and wooden structure, make sure to be alert. Keep on checking out the cavity and cracks at the exterior.
If you spot a crack and break-ins at your home exterior, repair it faster. Otherwise, bees will start creating hives on the crack and broken points. When the house is not in use, installing Roller Shutters on windows can also help you increase protection.
6. Look for Left Out Boxes
When you have a pile of garbage with empty boxes, you should check it out. You should dump or break the empty boxes right away. If you have empty fridges in a pile, move them away from your house because bees could find this structure perfect for their next hives.
You should even check out other hollow objects besides boxes and fridges. For example, if you have abandoned car structures, then bees might create bee hives in it quite easily. This is why you should try to move these kinds of objects out of your home. It will avoid any sort of bee hives around your house.
Conclusion
These are the top six tips to bee-proof your home when harvesting honey from bees. The following tips are great when you want to block unwanted bee activity around the home. Hence, being apart is the most crucial step for you. Keep examining your home to detect hives right away.
Most of all, preventing bees from creating hives is better than moving existing hives. This is why you should take action to avoid bees making hives at your home.
FAQs
Below are the questions you should know about.
How To Prevent Honey Bees From Nesting?
Follow the steps such as regular examining and fixing cracks in your home. When you first detect a small group of bees gathering on the spot, try to move it away. Use scent or smoke to move them away. In case the hive is better, call a professional for help.
How Many Times A Year Do You Harvest Honey?
In general, you could only have one time over the years. But in some exceptional cases, you might have the opportunity to have it twice a year. Seasons such as the later part of summer are suitable for bee harvesting within a year’s time frame.
What To Do When Lots Of Bees Flying Around My House?
Planting bee-repellent plants around your house will prevent bees from flying around your house. For example, consider planting a peppermint plant that keeps bees away. In addition, place mothballs to distract bees, as they would not like to make hives near it.
