Can Bees Make a Hole in Cement?

Several kinds of bees can take up residence under a slab of cement or concrete, within a building's foundation or behind a brick wall. It is tempting to think that bees somehow were able to create a hole in the cement to gain entry, but bees do not have the ability to penetrate cement. Instead, they find small cracks or crevices that lead to concealed cavities, such as spaces between walls, under foundations or within concrete blocks, and raise their young there.

Bee Facts

Bees are beneficial insects that pollinate flowers, resulting in seed and fruit formation that are necessary to complete plant life cycles. Bees are essential to food production, with farmers renting honeybee hives to ensure good crops of nuts, fruits and many kinds of vegetables. Producers of some greenhouse vegetables and fruits rely on rented bumblebee hives for effective plant pollination. A bee nest is usually a cause for concern only if human activities regularly provoke defensive action from the bees. Bees have a pair of mandibles they use to bite, shape honeycombs or other nesting materials, mix nectar and pollen, handle young bees and remove nest debris and nest parasites. The mandibles are strong enough to allow bees to chew through some plant materials, and carpenter bees can chew through wood, but bee mandibles are not strong enough to chew through cement.


Honeybee nests can be a problem for homeowners and gardeners because of the large nest size, long nest life, number of bees even in a new nest and the worker bees' aggressive nest defense. Established honeybee colonies split off excess populations to found a new colony, usually in spring. A queen bee flies from an established colony and is surrounded by hundreds or thousands of worker bees; the event is called a swarm. Scout bees look for a sheltered nest location. Any opening larger than 5/16 inch can serve as a nest entry site. Inspect your property for possible bee nest sites, and apply caulk to close entry points that may lead into cavities in or under buildings, walls, sidewalks, steps and paved areas.


Larger and hairier than honeybees, bumblebees are usually yellow and black, stout-bodied insects. Bumblebee nests last only one season. Each overwintering queen bee begins a new nest in spring. Often the queens choose an old mouse nest for the new nesting site. Each nest's size increases by fall to possibly several hundred bumblebees, depending on the species. Worker bees defend the nest if it is threatened. Nest sites can be under cement or within cement structures. If you need to eliminate a bumblebee nesting site, wait until early winter when all the nest inhabitants have died. Remove the old nest if possible because its remaining odors attract new queens. Seal the entrance that bumblebees used to get to the nest.


Yellowjackets, which resemble bees but are wasps, are about 1/2 inch long, hairless, fast-flying, often aggressive, yellow and black insects. Several species of of them exist. Yellowjackets frequent picnic areas, barbecues and outdoor pet-food areas, scavenging for protein and sugar. They make underground nests of paper by scraping off wood fibers with their mandibles and mixing them with saliva. Usually, yellowjackets die when cold weather arrives, but nests can survive for several years in areas with mild winters. Colonies of some species can contain up to 15,000 yellowjackets. Nest openings can be adjacent to or within cemented areas. University of California Integrated Pest Management Online guidelines recommend professional removal of yellowjacket nests or the use of bait stations.


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