Some neighbors of mine in cap hill recently had a scary encounter with a honey bee swarm attempting to rehome in the vent to their stove fume hood. This resulted in hundreds of bees getting into several apartments. Heres some advice if something similar happens to you!
1) if you see a swarm outside, contact someone on the Puget Sound Swarm List (https://pugetsoundbees.org/psba-swarm-list/) They will help you find someone who can safely capture and move the swarm out of contact with humans, which is dangerous for both bees and people!
2) If bees are inside your home, turn off your lights, open the blinds and windows. Bees usually dont want to be in your home, and will fly toward lights. It is easier for them to fins their way outside if the only light is coming from open windows.
3) If a swarm has recently moved into an air vent, (and that vent blows outside), turn it on. That will help blow some of the bees out, and make it an unsuitable environment for the bees to nest (they wont want to get established where there is noise and airflow from a fan
4) use a handheld vacuum to quickly and safely move bees out of your home. This may prevent bees from releasing an alarm pheromone. It can also help to quickly capture multiple bees, if you find yourself with many inside.
I hope this is helpful, if anyone in the region finds themselves at odds with bees trying to rehome in their apartment!
submitted by /u/sasquatchwatch
[link] [comments]