So for about a month now, I've noticed what I think (hope) are honey bees flying in and out of the exterior of my window frame. There's a small opening on the side of it that they use to enter & exit. At first this was worrisome, because it's right next to the door the lady and I use to get in and out of the apartment, but they don't seem to bother us at all as far as physical contact goes. We walk by, they fly by. No harm no foul.
However I imagine the wood behind the window frame (which seems to be a fiberglass/metal material, I'm sure someone knows better than I do) is getting decimated if they're colonizing and building their nest in there. So as nice as they seem to be, I know they need to be taken care of. For a while I was just planning to wait it out until winter as I read that once a bees nest dies, no other bees take it over. Don't know how true that is, I'm not a friggin expert over here. But the sheer number of them I see hanging out and flying into the window frame has definitely got me rethinking that strategy.
SO, short of hiring an exterminator (which I understand is the smartest route to take), does anyone have any tips for taking care of these guys? I've seen folks suggest a water/vinegar mix to draw them out, cigar smoke, different sprays, or simply caulking up the hole so that the bees trapped inside die out and no new ones can enter. What have you folks done in a situation like this?