Because of the nature of honeybees and their method of reproduction, specifically swarming, bees are constantly looking for new places to set up shop. When they do they are looking for several key things:

• A cool, shaded place for their nest. This makes it easier for the bees to regulate the temperature of the hive. A crucial thing for them and their growing offspring's survival. This is why, if you find a nest, it will generally be on the North face of a structure.
  
• A specific cavity dimension that is ideal for them to raise new young, or brood, and store enough honey for them to make it through the winter. This cavity can't be too big or too small. Not coincidentally, this dimension is the same size as our modern beekeeping boxes, and very close to the dimensions of several areas inside your home.
  
• An entrance that is neither too large nor too small, but wide enough for the bees to travel freely. This helps the bees in their defense of the hive, as it is easier for them to keep out intruders from competing hives as well as honeybee predators.

Of course this is not an exhaustive list of what bees may be looking for when swarming but it will give you clues on where to place your energy when bee proofing your home. Let's look at the two major areas that bees may decide to invade your home:




First, the soffit. Honeybees love this area. It is almost perfect in dimensions for a bee nest and often there is a ready made entrance for them because of improperly sealed and fitted soffit. Let's take a look:

This soffit has a bend in it where the two roof lines meet. This created an opening and a swarm came in to take advantage of it.

This is what the nest looked like when our technician removed the soffit. The nests that we find under these circumstances MUST be removed. If they're not honey could seep inside your home and cause extensive damage.

    What can you do? Make sure that all of the soffit around your home is free from sags. If there is a sag, replace that piece. Further, caulk any opening you see along the soffit. Make sure you use the best caulk available, don't skimp here, it could cost you a lot more in the future.

What's the next most likely place for honeybees to set up shop in your home? This would be the cavities inside your walls that are exposed from electric, cable, water and air conditioning lines. For some reason the contractors who install these services almost never seal up the openings. We have seen 3 inch holes drilled into concrete block homes for a half inch cable. If your home is constructed from concrete block, the blocks that are used in construction are overlaid, or lapped on one another. This creates a sort of tube that runs up the entire length of your wall; an ideal home for honeybees. If your house is a wooden structure, it will be framed out every sixteen or twenty-four inches creating a hollow the length of the wall at those intervals. Either way, when openings from the outside are left unchecked it becomes very likely that a bee swarm may move in. Let's take a look:

Here we see bees hanging from the outside of an air conditioner opening. The nest was so large inside the cavity that the bees were forced to build outside of it.

Here we have a newly arriving swarm marching into an opening around a water line. Fortunately we caught them in time and saved the home owner a substantial amount of money.

This is an example of an improperly sealed electric meter on a wooden framed home. The bees had only been there for about five weeks but already a large nest was built inside the wall. An extraction had to be performed.

    What can you do here? Just as you would along the soffit, caulk around every cable and pipe that runs into your house. Pay careful attention, apply the caulk evenly and check your work for shrinkage later. If the caulk has shrunk apply more until there are no longer openings leading into the walls of your home. As a side note- be very careful around electric lines. If your home is older there may be cracking around some of the lines running in.

    There are of course other ways that bees can enter your home and you may never fully catch them all. But by taking a few hours before swarming season and caulking every visible hole or crack in your home you will go a long way in preventing bees from entering later. Good luck and fare well.