Bees in Hangar

SoCal 182 Driver

SoCal 182 Driver

Cleared for Takeoff
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SoCal 182 Driver
Friends -

I was in my hangar yesterday and suddenly, out of nowhere, a swarm of bees flew in and showed particular interest in only one spot on the plane's wing. I've never seen bees in or near the hangar before. Obviously there's some lubricant, or something else, at that spot on the wing (near the flaps) that attracted the bees. I did not stick around to see what was there, but want to address the problem going forward.

Can anyone recommend a good bee repellent? Do those sonic devices work?

I don't want to start spraying chemicals to kill honey bees (and possibly damage the plane), but if anyone can give me some ideas on how to "discourage" bees from visiting the hangar, that would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Rooney Freimund said:
Sometimes, the swarming bees are tired from travelling and will just take a brief break. They are probably already gone only to never "bee" "herd" from again...
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I've never seen them previously, so hopefully you're correct.
 
Rooney Freimund said:
Sometimes, the swarming bees are tired from travelling and will just take a brief break. They are probably already gone only to never "bee" "herd" from again...
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Could have been a swarm and the queen just decided to have a seat on that spot on your wing. The swarm will follow the queen wherever she goes. When I was a boy, we had a swarm in one of our apple trees. Next door neighbors kept bees. He came over with his suit and smoker thingy and somehow located the queen. He captured her, took her back to his hives and the rest of the swarm just followed him (and her) back to the hive. He must have gotten 25% more bees for his honey for free that day.

Maybe call a beekeeper to get the queen and the rest will follow?

If they aren't honey bees.... see that fire picture above.
 
Call a local beekeeper (there are local beekeepers groups in many areas). THey'll be glad to come capture the bees for you and relocate them somewhere useful.
 
The YouTube guy Premiere 1 driver had that happen to his jet. They swarmed one of his engines while parked on a ramp somewhere costing him big bucks. I recall him explaining why it happened but don’t recall what it was.
 
Kind of a serious question - do you use Wash-Wax-All on your plane? I have heard (on the interwebz somewhere) that attracts bees. I haven't witnessed that and I use it on the plane and my car.... but somebody on the internet said it, so it's probably true.
 
Deelee said:
Kind of a serious question - do you use Wash-Wax-All on your plane? I have heard (on the interwebz somewhere) that attracts bees. I haven't witnessed that and I use it on the plane and my car.... but somebody on the internet said it, so it's probably true.
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I have a service wash the plane, so I don't know exactly what they're using.
 
Wife and I are beekeepers and the base calls us frequently to get swarms off planes and other locations. More than likely, leave the hangar open and they will leave. They likely swarmed and stopped while scout bees are out locating a new home. Or make a 1:1 sugar water mixture and spray them lightly and sweep them into a box and cart them off. Or call a beekeeper.
 
flhrci said:
Do they provide extra lift?
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this was like one of the first things I learned about bees was that it's apparently aerodynamically impossible for them to fly..
 
GaryM said:
Of course not. Everyone knows bumblebees can't fly.
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Tantalum said:
this was like one of the first things I learned about bees was that it's apparently aerodynamically impossible for them to fly..
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And you will get charged $500 on your credit card if you ask for the recipe at Ms. Fields.

But, back to the OP, a swarm is looking for a new place to call home. A spot on your wing is not likely to be it. Strangely enough, I've never heard of bees setting up shop inside a wing, but I suppose it's possible.

Jump to 10 minutes.
 
This happened to my Maule while parked at Lakeland for Sun & Fun and few years ago. They just picked a random spot on the wing and formed a bag-o-bees that was about 18” long and 8-10” in diameter.

Freaked me the f**k out! After a lot of bouncing around for advice and such, and a few trips out to the tied down plane to look at the the thing, I decided to get a room and try to hook up the next day with a bee guy that was part of the tower crew at Lakeland.

Doing some internet research overnight, I was hoping the situation would resolve by the time I returned the next day and it did. There wasn’t a single bee left except for the dozen or so we killed during the initial panic. It took some nerve to open the air vents once the engine started but not a single bee could be found.

The bee people fully understand this. I consider a curse that was thankfully lifted before I died of fright.


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It means your plane is sweeeeet! Compliments!

Sorry no good solutions. Other than hang a hummingbird feeder nearby and then they will congregate there. Maybe. Or hire a bee person.
 
flyingron said:
Call a local beekeeper (there are local beekeepers groups in many areas). THey'll be glad to come capture the bees for you and relocate them somewhere useful.
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Growing up we had bees. The keepers I knew would be more than happy to haul them off at no charge.

I believe honey bee numbers are in serious decline.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
But, back to the OP, a swarm is looking for a new place to call home. A spot on your wing is not likely to be it. Strangely enough, I've never heard of bees setting up shop inside a wing, but I suppose it's possible.
Click to expand...

We were on a detachment to NS Roosevelt Roads Puerto Rico a few years ago and walked up the jet to pre-flight and it looked like the starboard intake was moving there were so many bees covering it. The queen had apparently gotten inside the skin between the intake and external skin of the jet through a little cover that flipped over the AoA probe to protect it on the ground.

The base had a bee guy on call. He came in and with nothing more than a face shield calmly reached in and felt around for the queen, pulled her out and put her in a small box and set it in his pickup truck. With 15 minutes all the bees had left the plane and moved into the new box. Still didn't make that event though!
 
flyingron said:
Call a local beekeeper (there are local beekeepers groups in many areas). THey'll be glad to come capture the bees for you and relocate them somewhere useful.
Click to expand...

Do this, please. They'll come and take them for free. They bunch up like that because the queen is in the middle somewhere, and the hive is following her
 
Are they gone yet? Chances are, from what I’ve been told, that’s the case.


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Bill Watson said:
Are they gone yet? Chances are, from what I’ve been told, that’s the case.
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I haven't been back to the hangar since the weekend. I'll be back next Saturday. Hopefully you're correct!:fcross:
 
I predict you'll either have no problem or a beehive to deal with.

If you can find a local beekeeper, they'll be happy to come take the colony away. Free bees are like free money.
 
I used to be the guy a local firehouse called to deal with bee swarms. Generally, such swarms occur in the spring when the hive divides (reproduces) and the departing half takes up residence somewhere else. Fall swarms, with no time to relocate and little blooming forage to convert to winter stores of honey and pollen, are doomed. Call your local fire department and ask for a referral.

Addendum I: Visible bee swarms are generally in transit--they are resting and/or scouting the area for a permanent location. Somewhere in the swarm's center is the queen.

Addendum II: Please do not confuse bees (honey and bumble) with wasps. Bees are gentle creatures if unmolested, and stinging is an act of self-sacrifice--they die after stinging. Wasps are nasty buggers. Their stingers have no barbs, so they can sting over and over and over, and do so with little provocation.
 
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