Honey bees are one of the most vital pollinators on our planet, responsible for pollinating roughly one-third of the food we eat. However, when they decide to set up their home inside your home, they can cause serious structural damage, attract pests, and pose stinging risks. Prevention is the key — and you can take steps to deter bees without harming them.

Understanding how bees choose their nesting sites helps homeowners take proactive steps before a colony moves in. From sealing entry points to choosing the right landscaping, a few simple strategies can keep your home bee-free while still supporting these essential insects in the wild.

How Do Bees Come to Your Home?

Bees establish new colonies through a process called swarming, which usually occurs in the spring. When a colony becomes too large, the original queen leaves with a group of worker bees to find a new home, while a newly raised queen remains with the existing colony.

Before the swarm settles on a permanent location, scout bees are sent out to find suitable nesting sites. They look for cavities that are dark, protected from weather, and large enough to house a growing colony. Unfortunately, the walls, eaves, chimneys, and attics of homes often fit the bill perfectly.

Once scouts identify a good spot, they communicate the location to the swarm through a "waggle dance," and the entire group relocates. This can happen remarkably fast — sometimes within just a few hours.

Close Off Openings on Your House

The single most effective prevention method is sealing potential entry points. Bees only need a gap of about 3/8 of an inch to enter a wall cavity or attic space. Walk around your home and carefully inspect these common trouble spots:

• Roof eaves and fascia boards — gaps where boards meet or where wood has deteriorated
• Utility penetrations — holes around pipes, wires, and cable entries
• Weep holes in brick — small drainage gaps in masonry walls
• Chimney gaps — openings around the chimney flashing
• Window and door frames — deteriorated caulking or loose trim

Use caulk for small cracks and metal mesh or hardware cloth for larger openings. Avoid using expanding foam alone, as bees can sometimes chew through it. A combination of mesh backed by foam provides the best barrier.

Tidy Up Your Yard

A cluttered yard provides numerous potential nesting sites for bees. Scout bees are attracted to dark, sheltered cavities — and piles of debris, old equipment, and overgrown vegetation create exactly those conditions.

Take these steps to make your yard less inviting:

• Remove fallen branches and brush piles that create sheltered cavities
• Store outdoor equipment in sealed sheds or garages
• Turn over unused flower pots and buckets — empty containers are common nesting spots
• Trim overgrown hedges and bushes away from your home's exterior
• Fill in ground holes — while honey bees rarely nest underground, other bee species do

Keeping your yard tidy not only deters bees but also reduces habitat for other pests like wasps, rodents, and snakes.

Remove Abandoned Nest Remnants

If your home has had a bee colony removed in the past, it is critical to ensure all remnants of the old nest are completely eliminated. Old honeycomb, beeswax, and propolis emit pheromones that are incredibly attractive to scout bees searching for a new home.

These pheromone signals can persist for years and will repeatedly draw new swarms to the same location. A proper removal should include:

• Complete honeycomb removal from wall cavities, attics, and soffits
• Thorough cleaning of wax and propolis residue from surfaces
• Deodorizing the area to neutralize lingering pheromones
• Structural repair and sealing to prevent re-entry

This is one of the most commonly overlooked steps. Many homeowners who have had bees removed find new colonies returning within a year because remnants were left behind. A professional bee removal service will ensure the area is properly cleaned and sealed.

Get Bee-Deterring Plants

Strategically planting certain species around your home can help discourage bees from nesting nearby. While no plant will create an impenetrable barrier, they can make the area less attractive to scouts:

• Red geraniums — bees cannot see the color red, so these flowers are essentially invisible to them
• Citronella — the strong citrus scent masks floral attractants
• Cucumber plants — bees dislike the acidic compounds in cucumber peels
• Wormwood (Artemisia) — produces a pungent scent that repels many insects
• Eucalyptus — the strong menthol-like aroma deters bees
• Mint and basil — aromatic herbs that bees tend to avoid

Plant these species near entry points, around patios, and along the perimeter of your home for the best effect. They serve double duty as attractive landscaping while helping keep bees at a comfortable distance.

Call a Bee Removal Service

If you discover bees have already begun nesting in or near your home, do not attempt to remove them yourself. DIY removal attempts often result in stings, incomplete removal, and structural damage. Worse, killing the bees with pesticides can leave pounds of honeycomb inside your walls that melts, ferments, and attracts other pests.

A professional bee removal service like Honey Bee Rescue uses specialized bee-safe vacuums and techniques to carefully relocate the entire colony — queen, workers, and brood — to a safe apiary. The bees continue to live and pollinate, and your home is properly sealed against future infestations.

Whether you need preventive inspection or emergency removal, our experienced team serves the entire DFW metroplex. Contact us today for a free estimate and let us help you keep your home bee-free the right way.