A colony of honey bees can be likened to an organism, and the prime directive of organisms is to reproduce--and that is what a swarm is!! Bee colony reproduction! An existing colony sends out maybe 20,000 workers, drones and the queen, to go find a new place to build a colony and thrive.
Orlando bee swarm
Usually, but not always, these swarms are relatively docile, and are transitory, meaning they will leave in a few hours. Please, don't provoke them into a stinging incident, by self treating yourself. Give us a call, and we'll help you determine if you should have us remove them. In most cases, you won't have to do a thing, but wave as they leave. If you come in contact with these stinging insects, call the experts.Contact the stinging insect specialists, entomologists, beekeepers, licensed and insured. Call now! (855)930.BEES or visit AllFloridaBeeRemoval.com
Here is a European Honey Bee Swarm, this is able to be easily identified as european by the quantity of bees. The African Honey Bees swarm more frequently, but in smaller groups.
Cocoa Beach Bee Removal Large bee swarm
This nest was relocated due to the fact we were almost 100% sure it was a safe and calm, also the house was in a remote area with neighbors over 100 feet away. With over 50,000 bees inside we had to use two hive box's to fit them all! It is nice to see the old school swarms still around, that are much more docile than African Killer Bee swarms. If you come in contact with these stinging insects, call the experts.Contact the stinging insect specialists, entomologists, beekeepers, licensed and insured. Call now! (855)930.BEES or visit AllFloridaBeeRemoval.com
Jonathan Simkins is an expert in flying insects. He has a degree in entomology from the University of Florida, and has been working in the industry for more than twenty years.
Simkins is the owner of Insect I.Q. He travels all over Florida to deal with honey bees, Africanized bees, yellow jackets and other stinging insects.
Recently, he faced the challenge of his life.
Simkins was called to a large, privately-owned tract of land in Central Florida to deal with a huge yellow jacket wasp nest.
"I have never seen a nest this large in my entire life," said Simkins. "This is the prehistoric nest from the dinosaur ages."
He says the nest was more than six and half feet tall, and eight feet wide. It may have contained more than a million insects.
"To put it into perspective, a nest we deal with on a day to day basis might have a thousand to five thousand," Simkins said.
Simkins shot his own video of the nest before he eradicated it.
As he approached the nest, the worker wasps attacked him and his equipment.
In the video you can hear hundreds of wasps hit the camera. The buzzing is non-stop, and Simkins' voice is clearly tense.
"I have to be honest with you, I was terrified at one point, and there were several times that I had to pull out and get a breather. My heart rate was racing, I had hundreds of them on my veil," said Simkins.
He used a spray and his own technique to kill the entire nest.
Simkins says if someone had walked up to the nest unawares, and riled the wasps, they could have been killed..
"We definitely did save lives. This land is hunted. It's leased out for hunters, if somebody comes across this, you're not going to get away. You can see in the video, I run a hundred yards away and I sill have thousands of yellow jackets chasing me, all over me, trying to kill me," said Simkins.
The video ends the next day as Simkins walks up to the nest without his protective helmet on. Simkins stands next to the remains of the huge nest, and declares it dead.
In Case you missed it, AllFloridaBeeRemoval All Florida Bee Removal was on news channel 8 tonight in Tampa, FL . Yellow jackets are highly dangerous and should be dealt with by a professional.
Yesterday, I ran across a great blog maintained by a very interesting lady, Mo, who lives in Arizona. A honey bee swarm landed in her backyard tree, and being a naturalist, she wants to save the honey bees. She’s been researching honey bees and swarms and getting quite the education about these complex social insects and the dilemma we are now facing with Africanized Honey Bees. Please take a look at her blog here. I wrote a post on her blog, and she was kind enough to consider my thoughts. Here is a follow up to my post, and it applies to anyone who encounters a late summer bee swarm.
“About your bee visitors. Ladybug gave good advice, when they advised that you could probably leave the swarm alone, and it will leave on its own. Swarms are *usually* transitory, providing a resting and reconnoitering waypoint, until the bee scouts find a permanent location. You probably have a mother colony nearby and can expect to see more swarms in the future.
And, swarms are mostly non-defensive, meaning that the sting risk is low, probably because they have no nest, young or honey to defend, and they are focused on finding the permanent colony location. The clock is ticking, as they have maybe a week’s worth of honey stored in their crops.
Here are my opinions, fwiw:
1.I’d bet the swarm was Africanized, based on the size. It’s a small swarm, plus European bees will rarely send out swarms this time of year.
2.Swarms in late summer are probably loaded with parasites, such as varroa mite, which is believed by many to be a major culprit in Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). These small swarms can be thought of as ‘taking one for the team’, as they might be an effective means of removing a high proportion of the parasite load of the mother colony. Beekeepers risk infecting their own bees if they hive these parasite and disease laden bees.
3.Honey bee populations are increasing, & sacrificing one swarm near a residence will have little effect on the population. Yes, the media has publicized (yes!) our higher mortality rates of Managed honey bees lately, but I think an important message has not been conveyed: Wild bee populations have actually been increasing in much of the U.S., and in some areas, we are seeing an explosion of bees! Of course, this population growth might be due to Africanized (AHB) intrusion, which is a double edged sword…GREAT for pollination, not so good for humans and domestic animals, as they can be quite defensive and a significant sting risk.
4.Transporting and relocating may be an option, but realize that this swarm probably won’t survive. It’s small, probably has a virgin queen of low quality, and likely has a high parasite load.
One important note: Many will tell you that they can identify Africanized bees, based on behavior or morphology (what they look like). Let me assure you that these are false claims. I have a Master’s degree in Entomology, with a stinging insect specialization. I employ an entomologist who has spent years in Africa, keeping hundreds of African bee hives. My partner is an entomologist with years of honey bee experience. Even we can’t ID AHB by casual observation. We have to perform a lengthy test involving ~50 bees, dissections, measurements and calculations to get even a probability of Africanization. And like I mentioned before, swarms & newly established colonies (European & AHB) are usually non-defensive, so that is useless as a means of identification. Our website has some info on swarms that might be helpful, although it mainly deals with Springtime bee swarms, a totally different process:Honey Bee Swarm Info
Please bee careful with opinions (even mine!), as I’ve found many providers in this field are crafty, and tell the client what they *want* to hear. As an insect scientist, I try to be aware of my feelings and bounce them against fact.
Oh, one other note, please keep watch around your home, as bees often move into soffits, wall voids and many other areas in & around the house.
So, I guess my advice would bee to do what feels right. If your desire is very strong to have the bees relocated, have it done, but please have a licensed expert, one who has beekeeping experience, required licenses for pest control ( application of residual pesticide will help keep a repeat occurrence), commercial liability & workmen’s comp insurances. There is no reason for you to be liable for an incident that gets out of hand in today’s litigious society. Realize this will likely cost more than eradication of the colony, which is ok in my opinion. Again, if you go with eradication, employ a qualified provider. I have seen really, really unqualified providers make a mess of things and homeowners need not go through such an experience.
Bee well! Richard Martyniak, M.Sc. Entomologist (and super-tall beekeeper)”
p.s. I've always loved this bee swarm rhyme: "A swarm in May's worth a rick of hay; And a swarm in June's worth a silver spoon; while A swarm in July isn't worth a fly."
