Bees!!!!!!

[mithesaint]

Continuing with my tradition of rookie mistakes in my first 12 months of stove ownership, I was about 5 months late getting the vent plugged. As you might imagine, there is a fair amount of rust in the stove. Oops. You live, you learn.

Interestingly enough, there is also a bees nest in there somewhere. I think it's in the OAK, as I saw a bee hovering around the outside opening a week or so before I closed it. Now, I'm seeing occasional bees inside the stove. There is one crawling on the glass right now.

I'm hoping to replace all the gaskets before I fire it back up for the season, but I'm not sure what to do about the bees. The OAK and vent have been plugged for a few weeks now, but the bees are still apparently alive. Press the "on" button, unplugged the oak and vent and see what happens? I probably need to pull the cover off the OAK and look inside, but I'm not keen on bees in my face, and I'm not sure that shooting bee spray into the OAK is such a great idea either.

Thoughts? Besides plug the vent sooner next time?

 

[Delta-T]

turn on the stove and give it a lil squirt of bugspray on the intake, maybe squirt it before you turn it on so you have less concern for the gases igniting. you could aslo plug it up and wait......they'll be dead soon enough. Good luck.

 

[TheMightyMoe]

Bees give off about 5k BTU per pound.

 

[Ashful]

I'd be unloading a can of wasp and hornet spray in the OAK inlet tonight. Then in the cool early morning later this week, I'd pull the plug and repeat. I wouldn't be firing the stove with aerosols in there, so I'd either wait on that or use a non aerosol pump sprayer.

 

[hossthehermit]

I'd learn how to NOT double post..............

 

[IHATEPROPANE]

Bees give off about 5k BTU per pound.

Better than Infernos.

 

[DexterDay]

Hook up the Leafblower and say good-bye to your problem

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Hook up the Leafblower and say good-bye to your problem

+1 or in the alternative start the stove up, funny thing happens when flame and bee get together.

 

[mithesaint]

I'd learn how to NOT double post..............

Thanks for the insightful answer. Your advice was really helpful. Anyway, I got pulled away from my computer right when I posted due to a phone call, and there was an error message waiting for me when I got back. Didn't mean to double post. Terribly sorry to have inconvenienced you.

Mods, feel free to delete the second bee post.

I'm leaning towards just firing the stove up for a little bit to see what happens. Hopefully the nest isn't big enough to plug the OAK or something stupid like that. Guess we'll see.

 

[hossthehermit]

Thanks for the insightful answer. Your advice was really helpful. Anyway, I got pulled away from my computer right when I posted due to a phone call, and there was an error message waiting for me when I got back. Didn't mean to double post. Terribly sorry to have inconvenienced you.

Mods, feel free to delete the second bee post.

I'm leaning towards just firing the stove up for a little bit to see what happens. Hopefully the nest isn't big enough to plug the OAK or something stupid like that. Guess we'll see.

Sorry, didn't realize you were the sensitive sort, I forget that my sense of humor is different than other's....... apologies..........

 

[Harman Lover 007]

Thanks for the insightful answer. Your advice was really helpful. Anyway, I got pulled away from my computer right when I posted due to a phone call, and there was an error message waiting for me when I got back. Didn't mean to double post. Terribly sorry to have inconvenienced you.

Mods, feel free to delete the second bee post.

I'm leaning towards just firing the stove up for a little bit to see what happens. Hopefully the nest isn't big enough to plug the OAK or something stupid like that. Guess we'll see.

You can delete it yourself if you want. Just click on the 2nd post and scroll to the bottom and hit delete!! We're a tough group here.....we love to help but sometimes we just love to bust'em.

 

[Ashful]

This morning was quite cool, although not as cool as Monday and Tuesday. Did you do battle with those bees yet?

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Are they bees, or yellow jackets/hornets? A beekeeper may come capture the hive for you if its bees.

 

[Coal Reaper]

as a beekeeper, i will say that the OAK itself probably does not offer enough space for a colony to establish a hive. it is more than likely one of the other stingy types. unless the OAK is not sealed entirely where it goes through the wall. then they could be in the wall. take a close look. picture is of a job where i removed bees from concrete wall. they were getting in along a drain pipe where the caulk had shifted. this allowed them to set up residence in the block. i extracted 20-30,000 bees, relatively small as far as honey bee colonies are concerned.

 

[blades]

Had that years ago with yellow jackets in a home we had recently purchased. Yellow jackets in the basement block, sealed up the sill area on the inside ( they were showing up in the basement) pumped full of spray and sealed up outside. seemed to do the trick that time around.

 

[DexterDay]

This year and last year, I had German Yellow Jackets make a Hive in my house. Both times through the sill and about 10' away from the previous year. About 4,000 larvae and around 1,000 in the nest/hive.

He didnt show me all his tricls (same guy both yrs), but told me WD-40 is a great Bee killer.

These pics are about 1/3 of the nest. They actually housed up and make it inside the insulation.

One thing he always does, is finds the Queen. Before payment, he gives you the dead Queen. In and out in an hour.

 

[Ashful]

Those little German yellowjackets are the most hateful, spiteful, bastages to ever fly this earth. I don't normally get pleasure out of killing anything, but those nasty little effers are the exception.

In the yard, half a soup can of gasoline does wonders, dumped on top of their nest in the cool early morning. Having them in your walls must have been a nightmare. The ones we get here are insanely aggressive.

I found two European Hornets in our third floor guest bedroom this spring. They're at the other other end of the spectrum, in every way... bigger than a cicada or locust (think hummingbird), but very docile and timid. The first one really scared the crap out of us, though!

 

[Delta-T]

holy sweet potato pie...thats a big bee. needs a saddle.

 

[DexterDay]

Here is my neighbors house. He is remodeling and never knew he had a problem.... Till he found them

 

[letsblaze]

wowzers

 

[smoke show]

wowzers

x2

 

[Ashful]

Amazing that one could live in and around the house without noticing the kind of activity that would be associated with a hive that size.

 

[Lewiston]

And I thought I was going to see a clip from "Tommy Boy"
If you haven't seen it, lets just say a healthy Red Neck frame of mind is needed.

 

[jjs777_fzr]

I like the leaf blower method or just lighting up the stove. Frankly I don't know how you held off hitting start - I would have pulled the trigger before posting here. That's assuming they are yellow jackets. If they are bumble bees or honey bees I'd try to save the dang things. Disappearing bees on the planet probably not a good thing.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/07/disappearing-bees-progress-or-frustration-1.html

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Here is my neighbors house. He is remodeling and never knew he had a problem.... Till he found them

Yep, once one finds them they know they have them.