Honey Bees in House Walls, Eaves and Columns

It's springtime in Florida, and that means we are getting loads of calls for swarming honey bees! Swarms can be very frightening to folks who've never had experience working with honey bees, but in reality are not *usually* very much of a threat as they have no nest to defend.

Clermont Honey Bee swarm on Tree

A swarm occurs when a bee colony outgrows it's nesting area. This happens usually, when nectar and pollen sources from flowers become abundant, (springtime flowering), and the queen starts laying up to 2,000 eggs a day. At some point, about half the colony will leave, looking for a new location to build a new nest, while leaving the old nest to rebuild it's numbers.

Orlando Honey Bee swarm on building wall

This new swarm will typically land for a few hours, somewhere near the mother colony. We usually advise clients to leave the swarm alone, keep pets and people away, and the swarm will move on, without harming a thing.

Longwood Bee Swarm on Block Wall

But, when these swarms alight on house walls, eaves or other structural elements, it's best to give us a call for proper removal, as they often will move into wall voids, eave voids and just about anywhere else, often putting away hundreds of pounds of honey, pollen and wax withing the wall. Please do not try to self treat these swarms, as bad things can happen!

Apopka Bee Colony in wall

For proper honey bee swarm removal, Call us at 1-800-343-5317

Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist
ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com

Live Honey Bee Removal

Today I recieved a phone call from a gentleman in Melbourne, Florida, who wanted me to perform a free live honey bee removal.

I explained to him that we are finding our Brevard County Live Honey Bee removals mostly turn out to be mean Africanized Honey Bees, and that while I will consider doing live bee removals, I turn down many, because the sting risk is just too high, especially in tight suburban or urban settings.

He seemed to be understanding this, so when I then explained that we usually charge more for these live removals, he was obviously getting rifled up a bit. I explained that in order to perform a TRUE Live bee removal, we have to be careful, work slowly to protect the brood (eggs,larvae,pupae), and that we then have to re-queen the colony to introduce gentle European genetics into the colony. Of course, we have to purchase the queens, and spend a good deal of time caring for the newly transferred bee hive box.

Well, he evidently had enough, told me that I should "be paying him" to get these bees out of his house, because "you are going to make money off these bees!".

I was befuddled. This guy clearly has no grasp of what it takes to be a successful beekeeper. Most beekeepers will gladly tell you that this hobby or even business TAKES money to keep going. If one is successful, Bee sure that it is hard work and one is not getting rich off of bees. And that's with bees that come from a great genetic line, selected for things like putting away honey, disease resistance, gentleness, etc.

The going price for a starter colony of "thoroughbred" bees is $50-$75. Yep, I'm sure making lots of money with your bees!

When we do Central Florida Live Bee Removals, it's like throwing dice...We never know what kind of bees we'll get.. They usually turn into mean colonies as the colony becomes mature, they often will swarm out of the hive boxes, they put away small amounts of honey, etc.

Plus, factor in the cost of salaries (yes, I do pay my guys, hello???), truck expense, diesel fuel, auto insurance, Workmen's comp (don't you WANT us to protect you, the client, hello???), Commercial General Liability Insurance (again...??), and of course many more expenses. I haven't found a Chevron station that will give me free diesel!

And remember, we are experts, with 3 entomologists and other highly trained professionals. That's got to be worth something, or do you like billy-bob and his helper, with no insurance and a hand axe, tearing open your home. Do you?

And to top if off, Our regulator of beekeeping, Apiary section, Fla Dept. of Agriculture, is "highly recommending" that we eradicate all feral honey bees that are close to human or animal activity..primarily because of the spreading of Africanized Honey Bees in the state. What happens if I do a live removal and an allergic neighbor gets stung and dies or is severely injured? What happens to me then? I'll tell you what, I'm shark food for the lawyers!

All to play the roulette wheel or throw the dice with your bees.

Yes, "Mr.-Your-gonna-make-money-off-my-bees", you can keep your bees. Thank you very much.

For those that understand value, I remain committed to providing the best Live Bee Removal services in the State of Florida. I really do love performing proper live bee removal in Florida, when we can.

You can call anytime: 800-343-5317 or visit us online at: ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com