BEEKEEPING SERVICES
If you have a swarm of bees hanging from a tree or other object on your property you want to remove them immediately as often they will settle inside the framing of your house walls or roof and become much more difficult and costly to remove.
If you already have a hive established inside a structure on your property we can help with that too.
Beehive Removal
Removing an established hive from a building or other construct can be complicated and messy. The longer the bees have been inside a wall or roof the larger the colony is likely to be. We call this a structural cutout.
Typical cutout process : First we locate the hive. Depending on the circumstance we will cut a hole in an interior or exterior wall to make an opening large enough to access and remove all of the comb and vacuum out all of the bees, usually 1-2 square feet in size. The bees are vacuumed into a hive box that will become their new home. The old combs are removed and the site is cleaned as well as possible.
It is impossible to gather all the bees at one time as many will be returning from their foraging flights later in the day so a small cluster of bees will remain for a few days. Hive removal is guaranteed.
Swarm Capture
During the spring months honeybee colonies reproduce by "swarming". This activity is commonly observed because of the loud noise made by thousands of bees flying through the air to a new location. The original colony raises new queens and when they are born the old queen leaves the hive with about 40% of the worker bees in tow. They will congregate on a tree, fence post or even on the ground for anywhere from a half an hour to a few days while scout bees look for a new cavity for their dwelling. It is prudent to contact a beekeeper if you see a swarm as the scout bees may decide that a hole in the wall of your house is a good place to nest making removal or capture much more difficult and costly.
