Covered in Bees!

[MedusasOwl]

So apparently, a giant nest of bees has decided to take up residence right next to our porch. It is rather disconcerting to wake up to a swarm of bees on your porch bouncing off the window and peering in at you. Especially when you've never been stung and would rather not find out the hard way if you're allergic.

The apt office called in a guy, warned us to be wary of angry stragglers which seemed to be true for a few days, and yesterday it went from stragglers to a swarm again. WEEEE!

Well, when life gives you bees, make LOLBees. These fellows were perched on the window and I happened to get a couple of decent close up shots against the porch overhang.





Cute, yes? This helped for a little while, but I awoke to loud buzzing in the bedroom today. I'm pretty sure there's one in there.... I hope it's only one! I can see a few on the porch, and I'm getting anxious. Already called the complex about it twice now, but they seem to keep coming back and I worry about my elderly neighbor downstairs who has her door open a lot now due to the nice weather.

So, uh, yeah. I have no idea what to expect, as far as what the apt complex calls the "swat team". They appear to have simply put paper or spackle over the spot where they're building a nest and just making them angry. I don't know.

So, yeah, any advise, bee stories that don't involve allergic hospital trips or anything, etc and so on would be most welcome!

EDIT: Also, just so ya know, the door on the porch is the only way in and out of our apt. Lovely!

[python.princess]

One thing that you can do is stick a bucket or something outside with a mix of Windex and Sprite. I'm not sure what concentration, though. The sugary-sweet smell attracts them so they go to drink it and....

[cassandra]

We had a big nest of bees or some other stingy thing above our patio when we lived in an apartment. They did finally get them dead and then we had decaying sap drip and dead bees fall onto our patio for least 3 summers...it was yucky.

[Spaniard]

I've heard the same thing with a bottle of beer...don't know if it actually works though. When I see a bee I evacuate the premises

[MedusasOwl]

Does the windex thing really work? I may try that in the bedroom... I could swear I heard/saw one in there. I know there's one trapped in the bathroom light fixture somehow, but there's not much I can do about her. Except feel bad for her, because that's gotta be a sucky way to go.

Eew, bee and sap drip... well, I'd rather that at this point I think. This is probably one of many signs saying "OMG, Sheree and Karen, MOVE already!"

This is all making me very paranoid though. I'm careful where I step, I jump at every buzz... and when you're feeling paranoid about bees, you suddenly realize that a LOT of things sound like bees. The computer hum, the air conditioner, the bee in the light fixture, your imagination... lots of things.

[python.princess]

yes, the Windex definitely works. the local gas station puts out a few buckets every summer and they're always full of dead bees, wasps, etc. i never seem to find many flying around there...

[MedusasOwl]

I'll definitely give that a shot! Thank you!

[Texas Dan]

You could get one of those cans of wasp spray. They shoot up to 20 feet I think. I hate wasps soooo much. It'll kill bees too. Bees don't really bug me, as they are generally docile. At least all the one's i've seen around here.

Wasps are the devil. If I freak out like a girl for anything, it's a wasp.

Sorry ladies.

[Perry]

Funny story, I was 7 or 8 and just learned how to ride the good ol' 2 wheeler, so I was riding down this runway and a bee starts flying around my head. I'm going pretty fast for a new biker but I was so afraid that I took both hands off the bars and started flailing them around. Needless to say I would of preferred a bee sting.

[Argentra]

Oh man... I am so phobic of bees and wasps....

We had wasps building nests outside our window last summer, and kept asking the maintenance people to do something. Well finally one day I walked into the room to see one of my corns looking up tracking something...it was a big wasp. I started crying so hard I could barely see or breathe. That, of course, alerted my BF who watched the thing while I RAN down to the office, in tears, to have someone go kill the thing. They consoled me while the resident 'stinging insect expert' went up and sprayed it, then sprayed outside the window and on the porch for us. He even left us the can of spray which is instant and reaches pretty far. After that episode, they saw just how scared of them I am and sent a team to reseal the bedroom window and make sure the nests were down.

So I feel for ya...