Winter Bees Invading Homes In New York?

Normally winter is the end of insect season in New York State.  So why are we seeing these in our homes?

In the spring you'll hear people talk about how bad the bugs are getting in their yards but you shouldn't have to worry about them much until then.  Winter is normally the season when we get a little break from them.  Sure, you might find a stray ant in the kitchen or a spider in the basement, but in general, bugs don't bother us in New York when it gets cold.

So why are we suddenly finding handfuls of these yellow jackets in our kitchen nearly every day?

Last week when the weather began to turn my wife and I suddenly started seeing one or two of these dead on the floor in our kitchen.  Admittedly while a lot of people would see these and think they look like bees, they appear to be more likely yellow jackets.  They're different insects.  You shouldn't kill honey bees!

Day by day we began seeing more and more.  Most of them are dead, but a couple are still alive.  They'll fly close to the lights and some crawl on the floor.  My wife even got stung by one a couple of nights ago.

I looked into it to see why this was happening and it appears to be a pretty common thing.

The yellow jackets are looking for warmth

If this is happening to you, the only reason they're in the house is to find somewhere warm to survive and hopefully hibernate through the winter.  They can't handle the cold.  They will die if you get 5-7 days of cold in a row.  The nest might survive, but the rest of the colony will normally die off.

How did they get in the house?

Chances are there's a crack somewhere that they were able to sneak through.  It could be a vent or a missing outdoor light fixture that gave them access to the inner part of your walls.  They're simply coming in because it's warmer in the middle of the house than it is near the walls.

What should you do if you find them in your house?

Most of the sites that I found said not to worry about them.  If you find a couple of them in the early part of winter, simply swat them.  They should be sluggish and the remaining yellow jackets will normally die off as the temperature continues to fall.

However, if they persist through the entire winter or you hear more of them in the walls or ceiling, you should definitely call a professional to have them removed.

These appear to be yellow jackets.  If you find bees in your home, definitely have a professional deal with them so that they can be relocated instead of killed.