HowToDoThings.com Safety & Emergencies

How To Get Rid of a Beehive

Staff468 — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:17:00 -0500

Who doesn't enjoy watching honeybees traipsing from flower to flower as they conduct their vital duties? It reaffirms our faith in the order and elegance of our natural world. Who doesn't enjoy it, you ask? To those of us who have intense allergies to a bee sting, the scene may not seem so idyllic.

Sadly, honeybees fall victim to parasites and other insects as they go about their business, so we should avoid killing them if at all possible. And wasps like yellow jackets can give people the impression that all bees are similarly vicious (in truth, yellow jackets aren't "bees" at all). We must be judicious whenever we figure out how best to get rid of a beehive.

How To Install a Smoke Detector

Staff468 — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 18:53:00 -0600

Over three-quarters of the states in the U.S. have passed laws making smoke detectors mandatory in private homes, and for good reason. The majority of fatal fires occur at night, while families are sleeping. Adding strategically placed smoke detectors to your house will reduce your chances of dying in a fire by 50%.

Installing smoke detectors in your home is a relatively easy process. However, there are still a few guidelines to follow to ensure that your smoke detectors are as effective as possible. Always follow the manufacturer's directions when installing a smoke detector as the instructions will be geared toward your specific model.

How To Remove Sediment from a Water Heater

johnnyhayneser — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:06:19 -0600

All water that enters into a water heater contains natural minerals of some kind. Heating the water causes the minerals to separate and fall to the bottom of the tank. Usually this sediment build-up is made of calcium carbonate. One sign of sediment build-up is a sulfur (or rotten-egg) smell around your water heater. With gas water heaters, sediment problems may cause the entire heater to become noisy while on.