How to Get Rid of Bees and Wasps: Identify First, Then Act

Step 1: Which insect is it?

Quickest test: look at a dead specimen. Furry means bee, smooth and glossy means wasp family. Second clue is the nest: hexagonal wax comb = honeybee, grey papery pulp = wasp or hornet.

Third clue is behaviour. Honeybees fly a steady line and go to flowers. Wasps circle around meat, sweet drinks and bins — an insect that ignores flowers is not a honeybee.

Step 2: They are in the house — now what?

Case A — A honeybee colony in a wall, roof or chimney

Constant humming from a wall, dozens of bees going in and out of one gap, and in hot weather a sticky brown stain spreading on the ceiling: that is an established colony in a cavity.

1. Call a beekeeper or a local swarm collector. In the UK the BBKA runs a swarm collection list; many associations remove established colonies too, sometimes free.
2. Do not block the entrance while the bees are inside. This is the single most common mistake. Trapped bees die in the cavity, the comb and honey rot, the smell lasts for months, and melting honey soaks and collapses plasterboard.
3. Once the colony is out, remove the comb, wash the cavity with hot soapy water and seal the entrance. Residual comb scent draws a new swarm to exactly the same spot next spring.
4. Insecticide is the wrong tool here even when it works: it leaves the comb and honey in place to rot.

Case B — A hanging cluster in the garden (a swarm)

A football-sized living cluster hanging from a branch, fence or wall is a swarm: the colony has split and is house-hunting.

Swarming honeybees are at their most docile — no nest and no brood to defend, and their stomachs are full of honey. Most swarms move on within a few hours to two days.

• Don’t spray it, don’t hose it, don’t panic.
• Keep children and pets away.
• If you want it gone sooner, call a swarm collector: it takes minutes and the bees are valuable to them.

Case C — A wasp or hornet nest in the eaves, loft or ground

Do it yourself only if the nest is small (up to fist size), reachable from the ground, and nobody in the household has a sting allergy.

1. Timing: after dark or just before dawn. The whole colony is home and sluggish. Daytime treatment means hundreds of returning foragers come back to you.
2. Use a red light. Wasps cannot see red; a white torch makes you the target. Put the torch on the ground pointing at the nest rather than holding it.
3. Cover up: thick long sleeves, trousers, gloves, boots, and a face covering. Tape or band the wrists and ankles.
4. Use a jet aerosol labelled for wasps and hornets, from 4–6 m, wind at your back, aimed into the entrance.
5. Spray and walk away. Do not stand and watch.
6. Check after 24–48 hours. Still active? Repeat the next night. Large nests can take two or three treatments.
7. Once it is silent, remove and bin the nest — an empty nest attracts new colonies.

For a nest in the ground, the same rules apply, but a dust formulation works better: apply at the entrance and the wasps carry it in.

Things never to do

• Fire and petrol
  Burning a nest causes house fires, severe burns and mass stinging every single year. Petrol vapour flashes and flames run straight up under the eaves. Never.
• A hosepipe
  Water does not kill the colony. It only makes it angry, and this is the classic cause of a mass attack.
• Knocking it down
  Same result, plus the nest breaks apart and the wasps scatter across a much wider area.
• Treating in daylight
  Half the colony is out foraging and will come back to find you. The treatment is only half effective too.
• Working off a ladder
  Falling after being stung causes more injuries than the stings themselves. High nests are a professional's job.
• Spraying a honeybee colony
  Unnecessary and self-defeating: the comb and honey stay in the wall, rot, stain and smell, and new swarms return to the same cavity.

Step 3: Do repellents actually work?

This needs an honest answer, because “what bees hate” lists oversell badly.

Scents do bother wasps, but the effect is measured in minutes, not seasons. The menthol in peppermint oil genuinely disrupts a wasp’s sense of smell — but outdoors the scent disperses in five to ten minutes, rain resets it, and it does nothing to the colony. On honeybees the evidence is weaker still: bees navigate by different cues.

What actually draws them in

• Open sweet drinks. A wasp climbing into an open can is the classic cause of a mouth or throat sting. Use a straw and cover the glass.
• Windfall fruit. Rotting plums, figs and grapes on the ground call in a colony. Pick them up daily.
• The bin. Tight lid, kept away from doors and windows, liner changed regularly.
• Barbecues and meat. In spring and early summer wasps hunt protein — the meat on the table is the attraction.
• Pet food left outside. A permanent food source.
• Perfume, hairspray, floral scents. They make you smell like a flower.
• Dark, fuzzy clothing. Wasps read dark and furry as a predator (a bear or badger). Wear light colours outdoors.

Step 4: Situation by situation

Keeping wasps off the table

The key fact here is seasonal: wasps want protein in spring and early summer, and sugar from late summer onwards. Bait your trap accordingly.

1. Put the trap 5–10 m away from the table. A trap on the table invites them to you.
2. Bait: a scrap of raw meat or cat food in spring; sugar water, fruit juice or beer in August and September.
3. Trap: cut the top third off a plastic bottle and invert it into the base. Add a drop of washing-up liquid to break the surface tension.
4. Don’t bait for honeybees — they aren’t interested in your table anyway.
5. Keep food covered and clear it away as soon as you finish.

Balconies and windows

• Fly screens are the definitive answer.
• Check the balcony ceiling and the inside of railing tubes in early May: a walnut-sized nest takes one spray, an August nest takes a professional.
• The back of the air-conditioning unit, roller-shutter boxes and air bricks are the spots people miss.
• Empty standing water from plant saucers — water is an attractant too.

The garden

• Clear fallen fruit and keep the compost closed.
• A water bowl with stones in it in a far corner of the garden moves bees away from the house. Redirecting works better than forbidding.
• Inspect the pergola and shed in May.

Fruit and grapes

Ripening fruit is the strongest wasp attractant there is.

• Bagging or netting individual bunches two to three weeks before harvest beats any scent-based method. It is a physical barrier.
• Remove split and pecked fruit — one leaking grape calls in the whole area.
• Put sugar traps at the edge of the plot, well away from the fruit.
• Harvest early in the morning when wasps are least active.

Step 5: Stop them nesting in the first place

Half an hour in early spring is worth more than everything else on this page.

• The 6 mm rule
  Any gap larger than 6 mm in the outside of the building is a potential entrance: mortar joints, service penetrations, air bricks, shutter boxes, eaves junctions. Seal with filler, mastic or expanding foam.
• Mesh the vents
  You can't seal air bricks and vents, but you can fit fine stainless mesh behind them. Air passes, insects don't.
• Protect bare timber
  Carpenter bees choose untreated, unpainted wood. Painting or varnishing pergolas, fascia boards and garden furniture largely stops them boring in.
• Clear old nests
  Abandoned comb and papery nests draw new colonies to the same spot next year. Remove them safely in winter.
• The May inspection
  Eaves, loft, shutter boxes, behind the AC unit, shed and garage. Finding a walnut-sized nest in May is far cheaper than dealing with a colony in August.

If you get stung

For an ordinary sting:

1. Get the sting out immediately. A honeybee leaves the sting with its venom sac attached, and it keeps pumping. Scrape it out sideways with the edge of a card — pinching it squeezes the sac and injects more venom.
2. Wash with soap and water.
3. Ice for 10–20 minutes, wrapped in a cloth.
4. An antihistamine for swelling and a simple painkiller for the pain.
5. Take off rings and watches before swelling starts.
6. Redness and warmth for the first 24 hours is normal. Increasing redness, discharge or fever after 48 hours means infection — see a doctor.

Anyone who has had a severe reaction before should carry an adrenaline auto-injector; second exposures can be worse than the first.

When to call a professional

• The nest is bigger than a football, or you can’t see where it is.
• It is in a loft, wall cavity or chimney.
• You would need a ladder to reach it.
• Someone in the house has a sting allergy, or there are small children.
• Two nights of treatment and there is still traffic.
• The insect is a honeybee — then you want a beekeeper, not a pest controller.

When you get a quote, settle two things: whether removing the nest is included, and whether a second visit costs extra. Those two decide the final bill.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you get rid of bees? Identify them first. Honeybees should be collected by a beekeeper, not killed. For wasps, the lasting answer is removing attractants and sealing gaps larger than 6 mm; an established nest is treated at night or by a professional.

How do I get rid of wasps? Cut the food supply (covered food and drinks, tight bin lids, fallen fruit cleared), put bait traps well away from where you sit, and treat any nest after dark with a jet aerosol — or call pest control if it is large or hard to reach.

What smells do bees and wasps hate? Peppermint, clove, lemongrass and geranium bother them, and vinegar repels on contact. Outdoors these scents disperse within minutes, so treat them as a short-term aid rather than a solution.

Do wasp repellents work? Partially. Sprays and essential oil blends irritate on contact but do not change colony behaviour, do not last a season and reset after rain. Ultrasonic devices have no demonstrated effect on insects.

There are bees in my wall — what do I do? Call a beekeeper or a swarm collector, and do not block the entrance. Trapped bees die inside, the comb and honey rot, and melting honey can damage the ceiling. After removal, take the comb out, clean the cavity and seal it.

How do I get rid of a wasp nest? After dark, with the whole colony inside: cover up, use a red light, spray a jet aerosol into the entrance from 4–6 m, then leave. Check in 24–48 hours and repeat if needed. Remove the empty nest afterwards.

Can I treat a nest during the day? You shouldn’t. Much of the colony is out foraging; those wasps come back and find you, and the treatment is only half effective.

How do I get rid of a nest in the ground? Same night-time rules, but a dust formulation applied at the entrance works better than a spray — the wasps carry it into the nest themselves.

Is a swarm of bees dangerous? A hanging swarm is at its most docile because it has no nest or brood to defend, and it usually moves on within a few hours to two days. Don’t spray it, keep children and pets away, and call a swarm collector if you want it gone sooner.

Should I kill honeybees? No. They are pollinators, they are not aggressive, and killing a colony in a cavity leaves comb and honey to rot behind the wall. A beekeeper will usually take them, often at no charge.

What insecticide kills wasps? Pyrethroid jet aerosols labelled for wasps and hornets, and dust formulations for nests in the ground. Follow the label for distance, dose and re-entry time. Do not use insecticide on honeybees — call a beekeeper instead.

Are carpenter bees harmful? Barely, to people — the male has no sting. They do bore tunnels that enlarge over the years. Fill the holes and paint or varnish the timber.

Are bumblebees a problem? Almost never. They rarely sting, the colony is small and it dies off naturally in autumn. Leaving them alone is usually the right answer.

How do I keep wasps off my food outdoors? Keep everything covered, never leave an open sweet drink, and set a bait trap 5–10 m away — meat in spring, sugar in late summer.

How do I stop wasps ruining my grapes? Bag or net the bunches two to three weeks before harvest, remove split fruit, put sugar traps at the edge of the plot and pick early in the morning. The physical barrier does the work.

How do I stop bees nesting in my house? Seal every gap over 6 mm in spring, mesh the vents, paint bare timber, remove old nests and inspect in May.

What should I do after a sting? Scrape the sting out with a card edge — don’t pinch it — wash the site, ice it for 10–20 minutes and take an antihistamine if it swells. Call emergency services for breathing difficulty, facial swelling or collapse.

Why shouldn’t I pinch out a bee sting? The sting comes away with the venom sac still attached and still pumping. Pinching empties the sac into you; scraping avoids it.

How many stings is dangerous? For an allergic person, one can be life-threatening. For a non-allergic adult, dozens can cause systemic toxicity, and the threshold is much lower in children. Either case is an emergency.

Sources

1. British Beekeepers Association — Swarm collection and what to do about honeybees in a building. https://www.bbka.org.uk/
2. Penn State Extension — Yellowjackets and hornets: seasonal foraging shift and trapping. https://extension.psu.edu/
3. US EPA — Safe pest control and reading the pesticide label. https://www.epa.gov/safepestcontrol
4. Mayo Clinic — Bee stings: symptoms, first aid and anaphylaxis. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bee-stings/symptoms-causes/syc-20353869
5. Rentokil — Wasp behaviour, nest sites and prevention. https://www.rentokil.com/