Swarm in house wall

[Jeanne Hansen]

Gordon Crabtree sees bees going into a couple holes in his brick/stone siding, below a window.  The kitchen is on the other side of the wall.  I told him he should let the bees live there, but he would like a second opinion.

The bees are located at 

3110 Oxford Rd

Madison, WI 53705

phone Gordon at 215-300-2577

email GSCra...@Gmail.com

Thanks, Jeanne

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Jeanne Hansen

824 Jacobson Ave

Madison,WI

608-244-5094

[DeWayne Sticha]

I agree with your opinion

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 17, 2026, at 7:42 AM, Jeanne Hansen <jeanneh...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Joshua Schmidt]

If they are truly honeybees they should be removed. Leaving then be only invites them to grow their colony, destroy insulation, and invite mice and other rodents into that space. 

Dealing with stone is not fun so finding someone that can do it from the inside would be better if they can create a containment zone. 

If he ever wants to sell the home you would have to disclose that as a problem in the condition form. 

Joshua M. Schmidt

jmoc.s...@gmail.com

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[Joseph Bessetti]

Start with an accurate ID of the bees.

When a honeybee swarm moves into a wall, it's usually 10,000 - 30,000 bees.  There will be a massive amount of activity initially, and once they've completed move-in, there will still be a lot of activity at the entrance.  On warm days there will be bees coming and going constantly, often faster than a person can count.

Some of our native pollinators are also fond of holes in brick and cracks around windows. Many have recently emerged and are actively finding and provisioning nests for their young.  By contrast, with these natives you usually just 2 bees per hole or crack, coming and going a few to a dozen times per hour.  I've already taken several calls this spring in which people have mistaken these native bees for honeybees.

The native bees are nothing to worry about as long as they aren't burrowing into wood (carpenter bees)  You can safely leave them about their business, and they'll do no harm as they're using already existing tunnels.  If you can get an image, we can confirm.

Regards,

Joe

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From: mad...@googlegroups.com <mad...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Joshua Schmidt <jmoc.s...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2026 8:11 AM
To: mad...@googlegroups.com <mad...@googlegroups.com>
Cc: GSCra...@gmail.com <GSCra...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [madbees] Swarm in house wall

 

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[Jeanne Hansen]

Joe, thank you for the helpful comments!

Gordon, can you attach a photo of your bees going in and out of the wall?  

JEANNE

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[Gordon Crabtree]

Hi all,

Thank you so much for the input! I think you may be right that these could be Mason bees. Attached is a video and a still shot. I'm still not sure, thank you!

Best,

Gordon

[Joseph Bessetti]

Hi Gordon,

I agree. Probably mason bees, which nest in pre-existing cavities. Definitely nothing to be concerned about!

Joe

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