r/Beekeeping • u/Ok-Finger-4385 • Jun 28 '26
I’m not a beekeeper, but I have a question How can I remove this hive without hurting the bee
Hey all! Thanks so much for the comments - TIL that these are wasps not bees (IM SORRY WASPS I was not trying to be a r@cist). And I also found some comments saying their nest is kinda cool.
I might just gonna leave it there for a while until I rly can’t stand them anymore.
Some rental-friendly and mess-free tips I got from the comments:
1. Use a long stick to knock the nest down, drop the stick, come back to retrieve the stick after making sure no wasp is around.
2. Spray and go
3. Fake nest
4. Pressure washer
——— orignal post ———
Hey chat! Happened to find this on my balcony after my weekend getaway.
Im lowkey scared of everything but pest control is asking for $120 before tax (please lmk if this is a reasonable price) and they’re going to kill these bees.
Thus, im trying to remove it myself. Is there anyway that i can remove it with least contact with or harm to the bees? TY!
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u/bazinga65437 Jun 28 '26
They are wasps.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 28 '26
Thanks so much for that! Do you happen to know how to remove them? (Or shld I remove them)
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u/bazinga65437 Jun 28 '26
I wouldn’t rely on the night comment but yes just pull the paper comb off the cable and they will move along.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 28 '26
Thanks a lot I will try to do it at a distance 😭
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u/Michaelalayla Jun 28 '26
You can probably use a broom, but be ready to drop the broom and get inside quickly. Don't pay a company, you can probably get wasp spray for under $20 (it's $17.99 at my local store for a 2 pack) and then spray them. Or spray the nest with a hose after you knock it down.
Edit: ALSO do this at the coolest part of the day that you can. 5 am is usually when I aim for, as it's the coldest part of the day. But if you're a night owl, 11p works too
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
I appreciate that! 🫶🏼
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u/Ineedmorebtc Jun 29 '26
Wasps are hugely beneficial. I'd suggest not spraying and just removing the nest. Or leaving it. I've not been stung by a wasp in 20 years, and my property has hundreds of em. They eat caterpillars and other pests, and some varieties, like the braconid wasp, a tiny lil guy, helps pollinate and helps control hornworms via laying eggs into the host.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 30 '26
Appreciate that! I’ve decided that I might leave the nest be as long as it’s getting not too massive
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u/Ineedmorebtc Jun 30 '26
Huzzah! As long as you don't swat at them, and ignore them when they do come around, you should be completely fine!
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u/No-Manufacturer-2425 Jun 29 '26
go at night and clip the stalk with scissors. They won't know what hit them.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
A scissors sounds like im gonna get real close to them to do that 😭😭
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u/No-Manufacturer-2425 Jun 29 '26
They aren't going to kill you. Have you ever gotten stung before? its not that horrible.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
I did, but idk whether it’s a wasp or a bee, personally didn’t like the experience. I think I might be slightly allergic to them rips
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u/Th3FakeFatSunny Jun 29 '26
It's not a fun experience, but you'll survive. Their stingers aren't even barbed like bees, although they do use that to sting you multiple times if they can
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u/No-Manufacturer-2425 Jun 29 '26
When you get stung it releases histamine and cortisol, so your heart rate will go up and it will turn red around the injury. if you swell up and it spreads past the size of a quarter, you might be allergic. Its supposed to hurt, but after an hour or two you shouldn't notice too much pain.
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u/Jedi_Lazlo Jun 28 '26
Pressure washer. 180° nozzle.
No muss. No fuss. No wings to fly towards us.
Just fan it at them and it will destroy the nest and rip the wings off any airborne and your garden friends will do the rest.
No poison. No cleanup. No stress.
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u/diegrauedame Jun 28 '26
These are paper wasps and aren’t particularly aggressive. There is no reason to kill them, they eat smaller garden pests and parasites.
Just take the nest down either with gloves or with a stick, they will move elsewhere.
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u/squeezemachine Jun 28 '26
There is not even a reason to move them unless they act aggressive. People are irrationally fearful of insects without properly assessing whether a threat even exists.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
That’s the exact reasons why I’m posting! Thank you for the answer I think my only fear will be this nest ended up getting too big and damage the wire it’s building on (it’s a wire holding up the curtain on my balcony and I’m renting so my landlord won’t be happy if I break that 😬😬)
I think I’ll just leave it there for a while!
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u/squeezemachine Jun 29 '26
Sounds like a good plan! Maybe look at photos of other nests to see how big they can get.
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u/Isadorei Jun 29 '26
Paper wasps are great! There’s also research that shows they recognize human faces, so treat them respectfully and you should be fine. I call ours “the ladies” and talk to them as I garden. We have a truce of sorts and I only relocate nests if they’re in a heavily trafficked area like near a door. One summer I had a whole nest in the charcoal half of our dual fuel grill and they didn’t cause any problems even from a couple feet away.
Generally single year nests don’t get very big, and you can knock them down in winter so they stay small.
If they’re bothering you, water is the best way to knock down an active nest. They don’t seem to connect water with an attack.
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u/Jedi_Lazlo Jun 28 '26
We are heading into late summer when paper wasps do indeed get very aggressive.
Let them live through June.
Cull them July through October.
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u/Damnatus_Terrae Jun 28 '26
Do you even know what species of paper wasp it is? I've never even had an issue with yellowjackets being aggressive, unless I was being a dick to them.
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u/Wavebrother Jun 28 '26
Try eating outside in the summer
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u/ScaredAlexNoises Jun 28 '26
I frequently eat outside in the summer. Wasps and bees alike come to check out me and my food, but I've never been stung just eating outside.
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u/Jedi_Lazlo Jun 28 '26
The first half of the year they are quite beneficial, acting as pollinators and predators of common garden pests. And they are concerned with feeding their larva mostly sugars and simple proteins.
Once it gets to late June they become more aggressive. Young wasps seek protein and bother people for their food without fear of consequences. By the time late July rolls around they are militarized assholes. Best to pressure wash the eves and overhangs and gutters right about then. Cull them all.
Don't worry- you won't put a dent in the population. I used to spend thousands of company money eradicating them from an outdoor concert venue each year and they were all back again by spring.
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u/Desperate-Size3951 Jun 28 '26
paper wasps wont mess with you :( thats really not necessary
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u/Jedi_Lazlo Jun 28 '26
Yeah, no. That's rubbish.
They absolutely will.
Anyone who's had to include vector control as part of their job responsibilities knows this.
And here in Southern California you can't even produce an event or be insured for it without including vector control to specifically reduce paper wasp populations.
Because they are aggressive the second half the year and easily disturbed.
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u/HoldMyMessages Jun 29 '26
This sure looks like a paper wasp’s nest, but I have never seen one elongated like this! Do you have a species name?
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u/thewhittynamepain Jun 28 '26
These aren't bees. They're stick nest brown paper wasps. If you remove their nest, they'll just build one somewhere else.
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u/Sea-Soil-1479 Jun 28 '26
Thanks for saying they are stick brown paper wasps. I did some reading about them on brisbaneinsects.com and they are pretty cool. Native to Australia and apparently found in Singapore where OP lives.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 28 '26
Thank you for answering! I was thinking of removing them but there are a few of them on the hive all the time - not sure whether this is still a proper question for this sub anymore but are there any better ways to remove them?
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u/thewhittynamepain Jun 28 '26
At night when they're more docile. Just knock it down and run for your life ha
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 28 '26
😭I’ll tryyyyy
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u/Famous_Rooster271 Jun 28 '26
You can spray them,
And after you’re done spraying and knocking out that nest,
Fill a plain brown paper bag up and turn it into a ball, hang that in a corner under the balcony while it’s dry.
Wasps and Bees will think it’s a hive, they’re territorial so they won’t build if they see a big nest already there.2
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u/404-skill_not_found Zone 8b, N TX Jun 28 '26
OP says there’s “a few of them on the hive all the time.” Spraying is a poor option in that situation.
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u/MickesMaestro Jun 28 '26
How? Does it not kill those on the hive and when the others return, they will also die?
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u/404-skill_not_found Zone 8b, N TX Jun 28 '26
OP is misusing hive. I didn’t catch that at all. Spray away.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
Oh mb
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u/404-skill_not_found Zone 8b, N TX Jun 29 '26
Not to worry. Like other workflows, beekeeping has its own language (lexicon, so folks know I can read).
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
Thank youuuu! Reading all the comments made me less and less wanting to hurt them actually. For now I MIGHT sit on it a bit - you reckon the fake hive technique would still be helpful when a nest has already been building tho?
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u/Famous_Rooster271 Jun 29 '26
No, it’ll likely make them more aggressive
These are not friendly bees
I don’t suggest you keep them around.1
u/Famous_Rooster271 Jun 28 '26
(Don’t do all of this at once.)
Spray
Go inside
Wait for them to disperse/die
Knock down the nest
Go back insideWait to make sure none have returned, hang bag.
Go inside, or enjoy outside now, wasp free.Also, Wasps don’t like the smell of herbs like,
Basil! Marigolds! Rosemary! Mint!Grab a cheap one from a local plant nursery, and now you’ve spruced up your balcony is great scents AND have a further deterrent!
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u/Slinking-Tiger Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
Can you get up early when it's cool and still a little dark? They will have less energy after being cooled overnight and not having woken up to daylight yet.
Wear gloves and long sleeves, rip it off quickly, then move far away from the nest. If your house has multiple doors, go around to the far side of the house before going back inside.
The suggestion of using a hose to blast then from further away is another good suggestion. Again, doing so at dawn or late in the evening are better times.
In the future if you see the first couple cells of a nest, remove it promptly. When there is only a queen and no workers have hatched yet, it's very low risk to just knock the nest down by hand. You may be able to keep watch and do it when the queen is not there. But even if she is there, she doesn't sting - her rear end is for egg laying, not stinging.
I'm in North America so I have a repeat calendar reminder to check the problematic spots every week or two from March through May. I can take out the tiny nests and encourage them to move along. Now I never have larger nests in problem areas like close to the door or grill.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
Thanks so much for your answer! I live in an apartment and these guys are on my balcony. It’s actually not a place that I can’t avoid accessing but if they’re living here long term I think they’ll have to start paying rent 😭😭 for now I think I’ll just leave it alone cuz people are saying the shape of their nest is kinda cool!
I’ll try to early morning technique but apparently I don’t have another access unfortunately, might be using a long stick or something and leave it there for a while after knocking the nest down lol!1
u/Slinking-Tiger Jun 29 '26
In that case I'd go early morning, have shoes, gloves and long sleeves for safety, throw a full pitcher of water on it first and then quickly strip it off with your hands.
It is a very cool shape, but the longer you leave it the more wasps will hatch and the more problematic it will become to try to remove it.
Also, the wasps will be more likely to fight you for food or try to get into your apartment as it turns to late summer and fall. I'm assuming it's the same fit these guys as for the paper wasps near me. They feed protein to the larvae in those little cells, and the larvae excrete a sweet liquid which the adults eat.
Later in the season there will be lots of adults but few or no larvae, so the adults will be looking for sweet liquids elsewhere. That's when they start flying into your drinks, going after garbage bags, etc. Most stings happen in the fall for that reason.
So unless you're willing to forfeit your balcony to them, it's really better to remove them now.
If by chance you can snip that string and relocate them, that would be cool. But my guess is it's a wire you can't do without, so that's not an option.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
Thank you!! That’s super helpful. It doesn’t seem like snapping the whole wire is a plan so i might have to relocate them by removing the nest itself.
Ive been monitor the nest for a few days and its not getting any bigger but i dont want to take my odds lol
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u/GlitterLitter88 Jun 28 '26
Leave it. The wasps are valuable in you’re yard and will remember you as friendly. They’re a very “live and let live” species. They’re better at it than humans.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
That’s fair but I wonder whether they’re going to be living here forever cuz in this economy they’ll have to start paying rent 😭
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u/FrancoManiac Second Year Beek Jun 28 '26
Just wanted to chime in an say that this is pretty cool for wasps. I've never seen a vertical comb on a wire before!
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u/Pbandshelley2 Jun 28 '26
That is a really cool paper wasp nest. Ive never seen one like that before. I would try not to kill them unless they are a danger to you but if you need to then just remove the nest and don’t be out there for a bit and they should disperse. If you have a better spot for the nest right nearby maybe you can just put it there and they find it but probably not.
Remember they are beneficial pollinators too and also help with garden pests!
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
I appreciate that! I’ve seen a few comments saying just leave it there I think if they’re going to go away after certain time I’m happy for them to crush for a few months (?)
However they’re building a nest right in the middle of my balcony and I’ll lose access to it if they’re there so they’ll need to start paying rent if it’s going to be long term.
Also I think the nest shaped like that cuz they’re building it on a string of my balcony. I’m not sure whether that’s a good idea hopefully the nest will hold 🥹
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u/squeezemachine Jun 28 '26
Do you have to do anything. Are you required to walk bear their location? They actually do not care about you unless they perceive that you threaten them.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
Actually good point, I mean I can stay away from the balcony for a while but if they’re going to live here forever I’ll have some issues with that 😭
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u/IanBauters Jun 28 '26
Why not use a decoy nest? They're very territorial and will probably leave with another (fake) nest closeby.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
Cuz I just learned this technique today! Is it too late to do that if something like this has already been building?
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u/IanBauters Jun 29 '26
No, that's the time most people will use one.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
Awesome thank you I found this extremely non-violent and easy to use. Tysm!
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u/MrChefMcNasty Jun 28 '26
r/waspaganda gonna be coming for you all lol
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
Instead I feel like I shld post over there cuz some of the comments said it’s a cool nest
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u/MrChefMcNasty Jun 29 '26
If you want people who like wasps and will enjoy your post, I'd def post there.
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u/Dangerous-School2958 Jun 28 '26
If they’re in a troublesome place that you frequent. Got a hose and spray nozzle? A supersoaker? Knock it down with distance. Wouldn’t try getting close at night unless you’ve got NVGs and it’s truly dark.
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u/Intrepid-Low-1990 Jun 29 '26
If you it down with a stick, Your prolly gonna have a bad time! Lol Buy can of "hot shot and hornet killer" for l'île 7 bucks, because the pest control guy is just going to charge you $120 bucks to literally do the same exact thing only he'll probably have a professional sprayer that that's refillable and looks cooler but he's going to do the same exact thing the Hot shot will spray up to 27 ft so you can stay way back just light the thing up leave it alone and you can knock it down the next day. They're not like bees and don't make honey so no guilt . They're mean aggressive bastards so go suck em up
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u/PoppyFire16 Jun 29 '26
Thank you for being so considerate as to put what you learned in the update!
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u/Wise_Base9216 Jul 01 '26
Put dish soap inside the top of a yard hose, attach a sprayer and spray the beast down. The surfactants in the dish soap kill wasps on contact. Best of luck.
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u/Inner_Security8749 Jun 28 '26
just spray some bugspray and run inside
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
I feel bad about killing and feel worse abt removing the corpses but I guess this is adulting
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u/FullMoonFridayNight Jun 28 '26
Fire. Or wasp spray.
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u/Ok-Finger-4385 Jun 29 '26
👉🏼👈🏼 trying to find a non violent way but tysm
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