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?

4 comments

4 Comments

mason_reed472mo 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.

nancy3262mo 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_gonzalez12mo ago

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

mark_chen621mo ago

Gotta say I disagree with all this prep work. I've been doing this 20+ years and never knocked or sniffed or mirrored anything. If you're that scared of bugs maybe this ain't the trade for you. Just send it and deal with the consequences, that's how you learn. I got lit up by yellow jackets in Phoenix three summers ago and now I just move faster.