Swarm Removal

 Typically, the group of bees that left with the old queen will land within 100 feet from the hive (oftentimes on a tree branch) where they will rest while several hundred “scout” bees go off to search for potential new homes. They will look for a location that is just right—not too big, not too small, not too wet, has the right entrance size, is facing the morning sun, and is well protected.  This is a cluster of bees hanging from something such as a tree, a fence post, a sign, etc. They are NOT typically dangerous (unless poked or sprayed) because there is no colony (comb, eggs, larva, food) to protect. This is just a pit stop. They can stay for hours or days. This is when if called, a beekeeper will come and safely remove this cluster and normally does not charge for this service. 

Colony RELOCATION typically does have a charge because this is an established colony living within something. The more complex, the more expensive it usually is. Not all beekeepers will do the inwall removals because of liability. They will however work with a construction company that does have the insurance and skillset to repair the damage of the tear out. Sometimes, it is more cost-effective to plug in the entrances to the colony, PLEASE READ "I heard they're endangered" section for more on that.

It is important to note that swarming isn’t bad. It’s often a sign a colony nearby is healthy! After all, without swarms the honey bee population wouldn’t grow. 

Swarms are not aggressive either. Because they have no honey or brood to defend, swarms are more often than not extremely docile.

That said, most beekeepers try to control swarms because they prefer not to lose a large portion of their bees. 

Yes, BayBees Honey LLC offers help to any insured construction company to help assist in bee colony removal. We do NOT do cutouts on new construction or anything that needs to be put back together again. We have removed plenty of colonies discovered at construction sites or lumber companies discovering them inside a tree they logged. Please feel free to contact us for these matters. 

 -The best time to remove a colony is in the spring or early summer. This will give the bees a CHANCE at survival as they will have to rebuild their entire colony and resources. No honey is ever taken in the first year of beekeeping. IF this colony survives their first winter (60% chance), then maybe after a year of mite treatments, and feeding, they may become a fantastic honey-producing hive the following spring! Please feel free to ask your beekeeper if you'd like to sponsor the hive in its recovery through the year, your funding would greatly help save these bees! 

Sadly we've all been misinformed on the whole SAVE THE BEE movement. Some bees need to be saved, these are just the wrong ones (please research our NATIVE bees and the endangered species list to help our NATIVE pollinators). Honeybees were brought into the Americas as a food crop pollinator and they are considered LIVESTOCK by the USDA. YES they are our most important food crop pollinator, which is why we need them for FARMING. They're basically flying cattle, no different than chickens. They need to be taken care of, just like livestock, but if it's a nuisance, such as honeybees living in your brand new build, rather than paying thousands of dollars to "save a chicken", it may make more financial sense to plug the entrances to the colony. In home removals can be costly, they are NOT free. Honeybees are NOT on the endangered species list. Make your own educated decisions. Companies will gladly take your money for an inwall colony removal and repair. I know, I work with them! Stay informed!

The best way I can explain it is this: vultures play a very important part in our ecosystem (they have the ability to eat very rotten and dead things, which help keep disease away etc). If something were to happen to the vulture, we wouldn't say "Save the Birds" and release a bunch of chickens to fill the void. That's the misunderstanding of honeybees in a nutshell. They're chickens , not vultures. 

"I'm allergic." - People will often (almost always) say this when they call because they want us to feel a sense of urgency. 

"They're free bees, you're going to make lots of money with them, you should pay me" - no comment -