Oh Honey....

FIDOAG14

FIDOAG14

New member
Nothing to show off here unless you are a fan of Honey dripping out of your wall!

Discovered this when we got back to the house this past weekend. I guess it is finally hot enough that the honey in our wall liquefied and starting running out of the wall.

How do I know it`s honey you ask? Last year when we bought the house there was a swarm of bees outside the garage, and apparently entering the wall. They removed the bees before we moved in (in the winter) and I honestly forgot they were ever there. Now a golden brown, sticky substance is dripping out of our wall... I have wanted to repaint the garage and "clean it up" since we moved in but I`ve been putting it off until it cools off a little. Guess I`ll be starting that project mid-July instead.

Anyone have any suggestions for cleaning it up? I was thinking white vinegar might cut through the honey some?
Going to cut into the sheetrock tonight and find the hive to begin removal. That way I can resheetrock this weekend. Maybe repaint too!
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Wow, hope the ants don`t find it. I might spray the honey with an insecticide until I could get it cleaned up. Hot water ususally removes sugar about as well as anything.
 
How did they know they removed ALL the Bees ?
Did they get the Queen out or kill her ??
If they did that, wouldn`t they have seen the huge honeycomb and bees nest ?
I know that honey can last thousands of years, please be careful with this..
Good Luck !
Dan F
 
Dan,

Absolutely no telling.... I haven`t seen any bees all year, I wouldn`t be the least bit surprised if there was a bunch of dead bees in the wall.

I`ll definitely use hot water on the concrete but what about in the wall? Not sure if there is insulation in the walls or not. Kind of hoping there is and that all the honey, bees etc. are tangled up in and I can just rip out the insulation, clean the wall and respray insulation when I`m done.

Ron,

Nah, no bears. Oddly enough no sign of ants yet either. I half wonder if the honey isn`t poisoned from whatever they got rid of the bees with.

And to think I had plans of working on the car this weekend.....
 
FIDOAG14 -

Oh, good, you haven`t seen anymore bees...
Well, if they used that little smoker thing that sends a really potent chemical between the wall, they killed everything and for sure poisoned the honey..

And you`re right, that`s why no ants... They absolutely love anything sweet and would have been all over that honey if it were not toxic..
I guess you will have to cut in there, remove the nest and honeycomb/s and see how bad it looks...
Normally they seal the individual cells, so they don`t leak, but perhaps they were in process when the pest control people showed up..

It it`s an Outside Wall to the house or even the garage, it should have insulation, so for sure that will be wrecked..But hopefully if it`s batts, it might help control the mess somewhat...

As you already know, water and drywall are not the best of friends if the drywall gets soaked..

Look out for any electrical that might be going by...

Good luck - this will be an adventure... :)
Dan F
 
Found the Honey!

I must have pulled 50 pounds of honey/insulation goop out of the ceiling last night and I am not exaggerating. Honey is some dense, heavy stuff!

I had always heard honey doesn`t go bad but it sure didn`t smell good so it must have.

My ladder is not tall enough to remove the honeycomb so I`m going to have to wait till this weekend for my dad to come up. It is a nasty, sticky mess.
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Got it all cleaned up and re-sheetrocked this weekend.

My suggestion to anyone who this may happen to: Save yourself the nastiness and the sweat and just hire someone.

But if you don`t, Simple Green cleans up honey incredibly well. Cuts right through the sticky.


I`ll be floating and texturing this week with hopes of painting this weekend. Then I will have a garage worth showing off!
 
If you don`t get it all,they may come back. I had a honeycomb under the siding on my second floor. They didn`t get it all the first time & a year later they were back. Siding was removed and they got it all second time. It was enough to fill a 55 gallon trash can almost to the top. All that in a year,they work fast! Wish I had taken some pics,I couldn`t believe how much comb they removed. It`s been 3 years and no more bees,but they did visit my neighbor last year.
 
Whitewater,

No I`m certain I got it all. They must have sprayed though because I would think they would have come back already otherwise?

I also used basically a full can of Great Stuff sealing up anything and everything around the corner and on the outside of the house so if they come back it will have to be a different part of the house.
 
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