The majority of people are not experts on bees or bee removal, and won’t be encountering bee hives regularly like we do at Little Giant Beekeepers. When a homeowner discovers a nest, their main concern is around whether or not they will get stung. It’s tempting to ‘let sleeping bees lie’ and put off dealing with removal until later on. Once you find a hive on your property we recommend having a professional take a look at it right away. Here’s why.
A small hive can quickly become a major nuisance thanks to those busy bees. Around springtime, they are spreading out to find new homes and laying eggs. Queens can reproduce at alarming rates producing thousands of eggs each day. Bees also have a short lifespan and are continuously reproducing during the warmer months. The tiny hive that you see now could double or triple in size, potentially housing twenty thousand bees by midsummer.
Bee hives are containers for everything a bee needs to survive, including pollen, larvae, honey, and all the other worker bees. New colonies may only weigh a few pounds. In an established active hive it’s not uncommon for there to be over 100 pounds of honey within the combs. This makes a simple removal process much more difficult and potentially messy.
We can remove a bee hive in several ways depending on the location and size. Our preferred choice is to relocate the hive without harming the bees, which is much more likely to be an option with a younger smaller colony. If the hive structure has grown too large or spread into hard to reach spaces, that may not be possible at all.
It might make sense to put off any kind of removal until winter. By then most of the bees have died or moved on to other locations. Still, an empty beehive has its own set of problems. A hive that was used to full capacity then abandoned will still hold honey and other substances in between the wax. Honey left for long periods can ferment or attract other insects and animals to its location. Once that happens you will be dealing with a secondary infestation and more potential damage to the area.
When temperatures rise, as they often do in Texas, the hive relies on the bees to keep the wax cool. When a hive has been left alone for any reason, the wax itself can also melt. Attempting removal of a collapsed hive and all its contents is much more difficult and costly to remove and repair. As with any removal method, the sooner we catch the problem, the less expensive and complicated it will be for the homeowner.
If you see a hive or suspect there is one nearby, please call the Little Giant Beekeepers of Dallas and Fort Worth. We have been serving customers in the North Texas area for over 30 years. We offer several options for bee removal, as well as other stinging insects, and can help answer your questions about the process.
Please call us today for help. 972-980-0923.
We always get our bee!
