Where are the bees taken to after removal?

The bees are transported to bee farms, where they can continue to pollinate and produce honey and wax.

Does this process harm the bees?

No! This is the kindest and most humane method of removal.

What should we do if we see a bee hive?

Many people are happy to leave them alone, as colonies always move on with time. However, if you have children, pets or neighbours who are either sensitive or allergic to bees, then the best option would be to have the hive professionally removed in a humane and chemically free manner.

What are the benefits of using a chemical free removal?

Apart from the obvious that no chemicals or insecticides are used, the bees are simply relocated. With the continued extermination of bees, the population is dwindling quickly. Bees are a very important part of our ecosystem and the continued destruction of bees could in the future mean that certain food crops could become extinct, as many flora species require bee pollination to survive.

Can I keep the honey and wax?

We can give you a section of comb honey, but the remainder of the comb and honey must be taken for the bees, as the comb is placed in wooden frames and given back to the bees. The honey will be fed back to the bees so they are able replace the comb that was damaged. This process enables the bees to feed the colony while they recover from the removal.

Killing the Bees

Bees can be removed alive from the wall by someone accustomed to working with them but it is more difficult, and there is a greater risk of someone getting stung. Most pest control operators do not have the beekeeping expertise to do live removal, and besides, then they would have a colony of bees that they don’t want either. Therefore, most jobs will start with killing the bees. Many insecticides can be used to kill bees, the principal problem is getting the material to the bees inside a cavity, with multiple wax combs forming further barriers to insecticide application. Sometimes holes are drilled in the wall to inject insecticide, sometimes it can be applied through the entrance that the bees use.

Removing the Nest

If the job ends with killing the bees, you have up to 10 pounds of dead bees, several more pounds of developing bee larvae, wax combs and up to 100 or so pounds of honey still inside. The rotting bees can smell bad, and, with no bees to protect them, the combs may melt or fall. If this happens, honey will leak out and can seep out through your wallpaper and baseboards, and even between stories in a house. This is not good, and to avoid it you need to remove the dead bees and the nest. This almost always involves opening the cavity (i.e. removing siding or wallboard) scraping out the mess, and then repairing the wall. As you fear, this is expensive and troublesome.

Filling the Cavity

When you remove the nest, it important to keep in mind that the smell of the old nest will remain indefinitely and make the cavity especially attractive to future swarms of bees, so the problem can recur. To avoid this, it is important make it so there is no longer a cavity there for bees to move into. The easiest way to do this is usually to fill up the space (all the space you or the bees can get to) with fibreglass insulation. I prefer this because it generally will not settle, as some other materials do. Then, although scout bees may be attracted by the smell of the old nest, when they crawl inside they will not find a cavity of usable size, so they won’t bring the rest of the swarm.

Plugging Actual or Potential Entrances

Even if you have filled the cavity, it is a good idea to plug up or screen over any holes or cracks that lead into the cavity. When screening, use mesh with less than 6mm openings (e.g. 3mm hardware cloth or window screen). Remember, even if the bees were using just one entrance, other entrances may exist; you should search for them and close them off.

Do I Have to Do All That?

If you know for sure that a colony has moved into a cavity within the last 2 days, it will not have built much comb or stored much honey. In this situation, you may get away with just killing the bees, hoping they don’t smell too much, and carefully closing off all entrances to the cavity. It is always better to do the full job above, despite the expenditure in time and money. If the bees have been in place more than a week you are asking for trouble not to open the cavity to remove them. Sometimes you will get away with it, but it can make a bad problem a lot worse if you don’t.

What If I Can’t Open the Cavity?

Sometimes the bees are nesting inside a masonry wall, or other location that can’t be opened. Then the best you can do is kill the bees, perhaps fill the cavity with pourable insulation, block entrances very thoroughly, and cross your fingers.

Bee Proofing

As the above description suggests, it is troublesome and expensive to have bees removed from a nest in your house. It is far better to prevent them nesting there in the first place. This is where “bee proofing” comes in. If bees cannot find a hole leading to a suitable cavity, they won’t move in. You can get there first, and scrutinise your property for potential bee nests. Look for holes or cracks in the walls, soffits, etc. that may lead to cavities in the walls or attic. Caulk up the holes, or screen them over. Also, look for other potential nesting sites, anything with a fairly small hole leading to a cavity: examples include upside down flower pots, old water heaters, electrical boxes, barbecues, etc. If the cavity is removed (take it to the dump) made wide open (turn the flower pot over) or inaccessible (plug the holes leading to the cavity), it will no longer attract nesting bees.

Dealing with Swarms

Since swarms are relatively docile, and since they are generally completely exposed, collecting them or destroying them is easier than with established colonies. Also, if you do nothing, a swarm will usually leave with a day or so. The problem is, when they leave, it is to establish a nest in a cavity somewhere, where they are likely to be a greater problem. That “somewhere” may not be on property that is your responsibility, but it may be.

There was a time when it was easy to find a beekeeper who was interested in collecting swarms when he or she got the chance, sometimes for no charge. These days, that it rare, because there are fewer beekeepers, because liability concerns have increased, and because swarms are less valuable since they have been Africanised and will require a change to queen to be useful to a beekeeper. A swarm can be collected by knocking it into a box, ideally a beehive with combs, waiting for all the bees to go inside (usually until nightfall) and then taking the new hive to a permanent location. For a beekeeper, this is not so hard to do, since they are accustomed to working with bees, and have a veil handy to protect them from the possibility of stings (not too likely, but it does happen). For the non-specialist it is still possible, but more daunting. If the swarm is close to the ground it is of course easier to remove than if it requires climbing a ladder.

Swarms can be killed easily with insecticides, or with detergent solutions. Insecticides are more likely to annoy and disrupt the bees. For most people, the best course is hire a professional pest control person to remove the swarm of bees.

Allergic Reaction Symptoms

Most people stung will experience a “local” reaction with redness, pain, swelling and some itching only at the sting site. If the reaction progresses quickly to sites other than the sting site or is followed by difficult breathing or choking at the throat, the person is experiencing a “systemic” allergic reaction requiring emergency medical treatment.

Remember that if you are stung on the hand and your face begins to swell or hives break out all over your body, this is a serious condition requiring emergency room attention.

Normal Reaction: Lasts a few hours. Sting site is painful, reddened, may swell and itch, but will quickly dissipate.

Large Local Reaction: Lasts for days. Sting site is more painful, swelling and itching may be present both at the sting site and in surrounding areas.

Severe Allergic Reaction: Can commence rapidly (in a few minutes) after the sting occurs. The whole body is involved. Person may feel dizzy, nauseated and weak. There may be stomach cramps and diarrhoea. There can be itching around the eyes, a warm feeling or coughing, hives breaking out, followed with vomiting and swelling. There can be wheezing, difficult breathing or swallowing, hoarse speech, drop in blood pressure, shock, unconsciousness and darkened skin following. Reactions may occur in a few minutes with most deaths within 30 minutes, but some within 15 minutes and some in five minutes or less.

Stings

Whenever stung, try to capture or know the identity of the insect to help doctors diagnose the trouble. When a bee or wasp stings, it injects a venomous fluid under the skin. Honey bees have a barbed stinger. Only the honey bee leaves her stinger (with its venom sac attached) in the skin of its victim. Since it takes two to three minutes for the venom sac to inject all its venom, instant removal of the stinger and sac usually reduces harmful effects. Scrape away with a sideways movement (one quick scrape) with a fingernail. Never try to use the thumb and forefinger or tweezers to pinch out the stinger since this manoeuvre forces (injects) more venom from the sac down into the wound.

Wasps, yellow jackets and hornets have a lance-like stinger without barbs and can sting repeatedly. They should be brushed off the victim’s skin promptly with deliberate movements, then quietly and immediately leave the area.

Sting Prevention

Highly-sensitive persons should have two emergency kits prescribed for them by their physician within easy access at all times. It is best to store kits in a cool, dry place with easy access. The kit contains one sterile syringe of adrenalin EPIPEN, ready for injection, four chewable, yellow tablets of Chlortrimeton (antihistamine), two sterile alcohol swabs for cleaning the injection site and one tourniquet. Inject the syringe into the thigh under the skin as soon as the first sting symptoms show. A tourniquet placed above the sting site, when on an arm or leg just tight enough to obstruct blood return but not so tight as to stop circulation, will help until medical treatment is obtained. Loosen the tourniquet every 10 minutes.