Old guy at the supply house said to always check the attic for bees before running a drop.

I laughed it off until last week in Mesa. Went up to fish a line through a soffit and put my hand right into a nest in the insulation. Got stung three times and dropped my fish tape. He was right. Anyone have a good way to spot them before you stick your arm in somewhere?

3 comments

3 Comments

mason_reed471mo ago

Tap the area with a stick first, like you're checking for a tripwire. I learned that after a bad run-in with some paper wasps in a crawl space. Now I keep a cheap telescoping mirror in the truck, the kind on a stick. You can poke it into tight spots and get a look at the corners without putting your face in there. A little flashlight helps too, you can sometimes see the comb or just a weird shadow in the insulation.

nancy3261mo ago

The tapping trick works, but I also give the area a good sniff before I get close. A nest has a kind of sweet, papery smell you can pick up on if the air is still. I learned that after sticking my head into a soffit and getting that scent right before the stings started.

spencer_gonzalez11mo ago

That mirror trick is smart, but what about the noise?