Bees in air conditioner

[Hummingbird4447]

We have bees in the a/c unit. Any suggestions on how to remove them safely? Thanks.

[AndyO]

Call a professional, not an exterminator. Bees are important. Close all your vents and tape over them. Also you might want to call your insurance agent. If they've formed a hive in there the a/c may be a total loss. Which is why I suggested a professional at removal not just killing them, the unit is likely ruined either way.

[RogerR]

x2 on beekeeper and insurance, good luck and don't get stung

[SouthCo]

By inside the A/C unit, do you mean the unit on the roof or actually inside the camper in the vents?

[Jagiven]

Question, how many bees and how big is their nest? What is your goal? Keep them alive or not??? Smoke calms bees, honey bees tend not to fly when the temp is below 50 degrees.

An urban legend, no clue if it is true or not. Sprinkle cinnamon around the hive every day for a week. The smell will encourage the bees will move on.

I recently found an old paperwasp nest in my AC unit. Probably from last year. Nothing was in it. Also found an active paperwasp nest under my propane cover.

[us71na]

Bees is generally a pretty generic term relating to flying stinging insects. Honey bees or wasps/hornets? You need to positively identify which you have. The methods to remove/eradicate are significantly different. As a beekeeper, I wold suggest you contact a local county extension office, they will have a listing of beekeepers in your area. If they are wasps, an exterminator can recommend a treatment to kill them. Once wasps are dead removal is pretty straight forward. Honey bees are a much bigger problem as the residue from the wax and honey is difficult to remove and if not removed will likely attract another swarm down the road.

[AndyO]

Originally Posted by us71na

Bees is generally a pretty generic term relating to flying stinging insects. Honey bees or wasps/hornets? You need to positively identify which you have. The methods to remove/eradicate are significantly different. As a beekeeper, I wold suggest you contact a local county extension office, they will have a listing of beekeepers in your area. If they are wasps, an exterminator can recommend a treatment to kill them. Once wasps are dead removal is pretty straight forward. Honey bees are a much bigger problem as the residue from the wax and honey is difficult to remove and if not removed will likely attract another swarm down the road.

∆ This is what I'm talking about, great direction from someone with experience. Way to share good advice!

[Musicman24]

I took my 145RB out two weeks ago,,,all was fine....three days ago, getting ready to head out for the weekend...found I have a hornets nest behind the wall or insulation inside the upper fridge access vent. I have a feeling I'll have to pull out the fridge inside. Any advice to avoid that job???

[us71na]

Originally Posted by Musicman24

I took my 145RB out two weeks ago,,,all was fine....three days ago, getting ready to head out for the weekend...found I have a hornets nest behind the wall or insulation inside the upper fridge access vent. I have a feeling I'll have to pull out the fridge inside. Any advice to avoid that job???

The day we bought our trailer the dealer advised us to get screens for the
water heater vent and the fridge vent openings. We've not had any wasps enter the trailer that way. We did have some paper wasps make a nest in by coming in through the fridge roof vent. The interior screen provided by Jayco was not fine enough to stop wasps.

[RogerR]

Get some foaming wasp spray and shoot foam through the vents. When they crawl out they will either be killed or disabled enough you can spay them on the ground. When you are sure no one else is at home open the grill and if no movement clean out the wasp nest. The insides are pretty water proof as mist gets blown in while driving in the rain so carefully clean out excess spray or let it dry up before getting it running and installing screens on the fridge, furnace and water heater.

[Musicman24]

Originally Posted by us71na

The day we bought our trailer the dealer advised us to get screens for the
water heater vent and the fridge vent openings. We've not had any wasps enter the trailer that way. We did have some paper wasps make a nest in by coming in through the fridge roof vent. The interior screen provided by Jayco was not fine enough to stop wasps.

Originally Posted by RogerR

Get some foaming wasp spray and shoot foam through the vents. When they crawl out they will either be killed or disabled enough you can spay them on the ground. When you are sure no one else is at home open the grill and if no movement clean out the wasp nest. The insides are pretty water proof as mist gets blown in while driving in the rain so carefully clean out excess spray or let it dry up before getting it running and installing screens on the fridge, furnace and water heater.

They are definitely yellow jackets. I did remove the plastic vent/access covers. I did spray inside and between the cracks. The problem is, I didnt get the queen. I spoke to a friend who owned his own pest control business. He said try the No-Pest flying insect strips. I read up on them seem to have great reviews and work well. But super powerful. I might try for just a few days. You have to wear gloves, mask and eye protection....sheesh like radioactive material..!!! I'll let ya know.
As for the screens, that was my plan....I waited too long. That'll be done as well.
Thanks for the help guys!!

[DocBrown]

The OP never came back to this thread. I was interested in knowing what kind of infestation he had and how he got rid of it.

We have terrible wasp problems around the outside of our house. We store the trailer next to our attached garage and had have wasps nests in the AC cover on several occasions.