Bee Removal
The importance of saving and preserving honeybees should be a concern of everyone. Fear and misinformation has led to the destruction of healthy honeybee colonies simply because the bees left one home (swarmed) in an attempt to find another home. The importance of saving these colonies for the pollination of crops and the production of honey cannot be stressed enough. Associations such as Johnson County Beekeepers strive to educate the public about what to do when encountering a swarm and who to call to safely control the swarm and move them to a home where they can keep performing their beneficial function.
What are you dealing with?
Bee removal is often dangerous and difficult; A few bees in the house or bees buzzing around the exterior, a chimney, vent, or eave is usually sign of a beehive. An established beehive typically will consist of 10,000 to 50,000 bees. An average beehive can have 25 to 100 lbs of honey and comb. Often, a bee exterminator is used to exterminate the bees, but the honeycomb is left in the wall. Removal of the honeycomb is the key to solving a bee problem and not creating bigger problems that require pest control for rodents and bugs, structural repair from melted honey, and more bee removal problems in the future.
If the bee colony has just appeared and is congregating outdoors, it is called a swarm. In the lower half of the United States an average swarm may be about 5,000 bees and about the size of a football and often beard shaped. For the remainder of the United States and Canada, the swarms are generally larger. In the case of a swarm, it can be best to leave it alone; bees will typically rest on a tree, bush, or an external structure for a few days before moving on. If the bees have not left within a few days, bee removal is the next option. If the bees are in your wall, attic, chimney, roof or an enclosed area, the sooner you address the problem the less honeycomb will need to be removed.
What do if I find bees?
1. Do not panic, stay calm and observe them from a distance.
2. If they are clustered on a limb or hanging on an other object that is a swarm. They do not have a home, they are just looking for one. Honey bees rarely sting in this state. They are only interested in finding a home. Contact a beekeeper from the list below. Do not be surprised if you look out and they are gone. They will move on if they cannot find a home in your area.
3. If the bees are in a structure please let the beekeeper know what they are in (wall, roof, etc.), How long they have been in the structure, and how high off the ground they are entering the structure.
4. Send pictures if you can. This will help in determining what equipment will be needed.
Use the form below to submit a bee removal request to professional bee keepers that specialize in removals of swarms and hives in structures. Those names listed below are registered with the state of Texas to remove and transport bees safely. They are all experienced beekeepers in catching swarms and removing bees in walls, crawl spaces, and others areas of a structure. Please do not disturb the bees or try to do the removal yourself. Depending on the breed of bee, they can be calm and docile or they may be aggressive.