Get Rid of Bees
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How to Get Rid of Bees - By John Adkins
"How do I get rid of bees" is a question many ask when honey bees show up in the wrong places, and sometimes even when bees are in the right places. As a bee removal specialist, I'm asked how to get rid of bees thousands of times each year!
This how to article targets the most common unwanted places beehives move into and solutions for how to get rid of them. It also briefly explains why the bees choose that spot, expels myths of why you got bees, and explains how to keep from getting bees it in the future.
First I must annoy you with my two cents. When is the last time you were grateful for honeybees? Bees provide a startling one-third (1/3) of our entire food source through pollination as well as much of the colors in our world! Also, you should know that both Africanized bees and European bees sting ONLY when threatened or defending their home.
Bee id chart
About Adkins Bee Removal
Are bees dangerous?
Why did I get bees, What's going on?
Can I find a beekeeper for free bee removal?
Get rid of bees in ground
How to get rid of bees on a humming bird feeder
How to get rid of honeybees in a pond, waterfall or pool
Loud buzzing on my tree
How to get rid of a swarm of bees on my tree
Getting rid of bees in tree trunks
Bees in my bird house or owl box
Can you save africanized bees?
Bees in my house or wasps up against the window
Dead bees on the outside of my house
How to get rid of bees in my chimney
Bees in vent or air duct new!
Bees in basement
How to get rid of bees in walls, attics, under house, eaves, fence, jacuzzi, or shed floor hot!
Dark mildew stains on my stucco from melting honey
Bad smell coming from my wall
Prices and Cost of Bee Removal (structural bee removal)
Do it yourself, removing the honey and bees in the wall
How to kill bees?
Bee control methods
Call the bee hotline
Ask a Question / Leave Your Feedback!
What kind of bee is it? new! (upload your bee picture for ID)
Get help with a bee problem - Submit a Photo new! (get help, get answers or a quote)
While Africanized bees have been largely overhyped by media, these bees and European bees can be dangerous. Recently we've been involved with a greater amount of Africanized bee activity than normal. During this time, we performed bee removal on a shed where a lamb was attacked and killed by bees. Later that day, we performed a bee removal on a gas station lamp post. The pole was bumped by a car backing up and the bees swarmed out and into the woman's car window, stinging her and others nearby repeatedly. A week later we preformed bee removal from a tree where a man was attacked by Africanized bees and stung 20 times before making it from his yard to his house.
Last week I performed a bee removal from an owl box where a horse was attacked by Africanized bees and stung hundreds of times. Yesterday we performed bee removal for a man whose son and dog were attacked while playing basketball in the front yard. His son was fine, but the dog received 2000 stings and the man was told by the vet he had a 50/50 chance to live (which was a little too optimistic).
The normal kill ratio for a human being is 10 stings per pound; so about 1,800 stings would typically kill someone weighing 180 lbs. A typical bee hive has on average 10,000 to 40,000 bees. So to answer the question, YES bees can be dangerous! (Ask a Question / Leave Feedback)
Why did I get bees, What's going on?
If you're reading this you most likely have bees or scout bees on your property. This is caused when a beehive gets to large and the workers can't communicate as easily with the queen. Some of the bees will begin building a handful of queen cells on the honeycomb. When the queen lays the larvae inside the cells, the worker bees will feed these larvae a special protein rich diet termed 'royal jelly'. Once a new baby queen emerges, this queen will kill the other unborn queens, or if two queens emerge at the same time they'll fight to... read more - Why did I get bees?
In the 80's and before, it was a bit easier to find beekeepers that would collect bees for free. Now, with Africanized bees, diseases, time restraints, liabilities, and the difficulty of the location of where the bees build their nest, it's not as easy to find someone who wants to remove your bees for free. It takes a large amount of time and effort to remove a beehive if it's in a house or structure, not to mention any repair work if needed. It also takes time to turn that beehive into a productive, healthy bee colony. For areas Adkins provides bee removal in visit the county bee removal page to see if service is available.
If you're trying to get rid of bees and you live in the central area of the United States, and the bees are on a bush, tree, or outside in an easy to capture location, it's not... read more - Who wants my bees?
Get Rid of Bees in Ground
Very seldom do honeybees build nests in ground, more common types of ground bees are yellow jackets and bumblebees. For details and identification visit our bee id guide.
Except for honeybees, most if not all of these ground bees will abandon their nests late in Fall season, however many times bee species like yellow jackets, wasps, will often continue to return to the grounds unless the nest is dug up and removed. Ground bees are an important part of organic pest control as well as pollination. Some common nuisances ground bees may cause is... read more - Bees in ground.
How to Get Rid of Bees on Humming Bird Feeders
At times humming bird feeders may be taken over by honey bees in dry states or in times of heat. This is a haven to the bees during this time. However if this becomes too great a problem for you, you have a couple options. You may remove and empty the feeder for a week or let it run dry for a bit. This will break the bee's flight pattern and force them to find a new water source.
When hanging the feeder back up, humming birds may take some time to re-discover it. A humming bird feeder, excessive flowers, or blossoming trees, do not in any way invite or cause beehives to move onto your property. If this happens... read more - Bees on humming bird feeder.
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How to Get Rid of Honeybees in My Pond, Waterfall or Pool
In warm dry seasons of the year you may notice heavy honeybee activity around your pool or water sources, this can become very frustrating for a home owner. Honey bees need water to make honey, bees prefer natural peaceful locations, but in hot months were some of these resources have dried up bees will seek out other havens. If you need to get rid of honey bees in this case, you have a few choices. One option for getting rid of the bee coming to the swimming pool, or water source is to temporarily drain or empty the water source, forcing the bees to... read more - Bees in my pond, waterfall, or pool.
Loud buzzing on my tree!
Bees covering an entire tree uniformly accompanied by loud buzzing may happen in autumn with some late-blooming trees as most of the flowers have come and gone. Although this is great for bees, it can be a nuisance, concern, and intimidating to a home owner. If the bees are all over the blossoms of the tree uniformly, this is not a cause for alarm. All bees in this situation are non-aggressive and are simply there to... read more - Bees buzzing on tree.
How to Get Rid of a Swarm of Bees on My Tree
When a beehive gets too large, the hive splits in two. Half of the colony (4,000-6,000 bees) moves out, traveling as a swarm. While searching for their new home bees often rest on a bush or tree temporarily. A bee swarm in this phase is usually about the size of a football or basket ball and beard shaped. If the swarm of bees is new, they will also appear to be friendly (all bees are-non aggressive during this phase, whether Africanized or not). This is because they have no home to defend yet and there is no... read more - Get rid of swarm on tree.
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Getting Rid of Bees in Tree Trunks or Hollows
Bees in tree trunks or hollows often cause recurring problems. Getting rid of the bees yourself often presents a tremendous challenge. Normally the cost of buying a bee suit and other equipment, in addition to the time you take to learn what to do and how to do it, far exceeds the cost of paying a beekeeper or a bee removal specialist. Often these trees have been inhabited by bees off and on for many years. The typical remedy is to kill these bees, as extraction is more costly and time consuming. Either way the honey scent will linger indefinitely attracting new bee colonies in search of a suitable home. To keep this from happening and get rid of the bees permanently... read more - Bees in tree trunk or hollows.
How to Get Rid of Bees in a Bird House or Owl Box
It's common to find bees that have set up shop in an owl box or in a bird house. From my experience, if the bees are in a bird house, typically they tend to be less aggressive than bees in an owl box, which also tend to be found up higher. Many people choose to have the entire bird house or owl box removed so they do not have to deal with the recurring problems from the... read more - Get rid of bees in bird house or owl box.
Can You Save Africanized bees?
Yes, if the honey bee hive is located where there is enough space, africanized beehives can be collected (if conditions are safe) and the hive re-queened. This is done by replacing the Africanized queen with a European queen bee. A bees life span is about 4 months; generally within about 4 (four) months the africanized hive will be a European beehive.
In the city it may be too dangerous to... read more - Save hybrid bees.
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Bees in My House or Wasps Up Against the Window
The misunderstanding is that the bees in the house came in through the window, screen, or an open door. What is most likely happening is that they are scout bees, or a beehive is attached to the wall, attic, or chimney of the house and a few bees are getting in through the chimney, vent, eve, or a structural void and at this point they... read more - Bees in my house.
Dead Bees Outside My House
Dead bees along the outside of the house are signs of a beehive living in the wall, eave or attic. This will typically be accompanied by bee activities buzzing above or near the dead bees. Upon observation you may also see dead or sick bees being carried out by one or two bees and dropped somewhere.
There are three typical reasons why this may be happening, all of which involve a beehive living in or attached to the structure with... read more - Dead bees outside my house.
Bees will send out scouting parties of 10 to 100 bees in search of a new home. Chimneys appear to be just that. It is typical in this stage to find some bees in the house up against the window in a room near the chimney alive, dead, or lethargic. Often while inspecting the chimney, the bee may wander too far down the flu and gets lost inside the house. At this point it will fly to the brightest spot (the window) looking for a way out. To get rid of these bees you need a preventative treatment around the chimney top. Most pest sprays will work, as the bees return to the hive and report the bad conditions, thus choosing a different chimney or location to start a home.
I got a call on Mother's Day from a couple who, upon noticing bees coming from the chimney, were instructed by a friend to get rid of the bees by lighting a fire. (Though this can work at times, it normally only works if the hive hasn't already moved in.) In their case the bees had already moved into the top of the chimney. Upon lighting the fire, half the swarm fell... read more - Bees in chimney.
Bees in vent or air duct
Bees in a vent or air duct of the house are difficult to get rid of. Unlike wasps, a new swarm of honey bees begins with thousands of bees. Within just a couple days they will have a few sheets of honeycomb each about the size of your hand near or inside the vent or air duct. Often I'm asked how to make the bees go away, unfortunately getting the honey bees to abandon their home in the vent or air duct is a very unlikely prospect.
In attempts to get rid of the bees, people will turn on the vent and occasionally make other concoctions in attempt to thwart the bees. But bees will... read more - Bees in vent.
How to Get Rid of Bees in My Wall, Roof, Attic, under House, Eaves, Fence, Jacuzzi, shed floor, etc..
Bees buzzing around the roof line, soffit, garage, wall void, fence, jacuzzi or a similar structure may likely be an indication of a beehive. If the bees are in a very noticeable location and you think the problem may be brand new, there are some things you may do to get rid of the bees and deter them from moving in. If the bees appear to be floating around the structure as if inspecting it, they may just be a scouting party determining if this area would make a suitable home. If they are floating about the structure as mentioned above but are also going in and out of an opening and there doesn't seem to be heavy traffic, watch the bees entering. If the bees entering the opening have yellow sacs on the back of their legs, then there is going to be a beehive inside, typically with thousands of bees.
If there is no yellow pollen sacs on the backs of their legs, there may still be a bee hive; however they most likely just arrived within a day or two. In the case where the bees are floating around, and if any small amount are entering a hole in the area, but have no yellow pollen sacs on their legs, to get rid of the honey bees you may... read more - Bees in wall, roof, and eaves.
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Dark Mildew Stains on My Stucco from Melting Honey
Melting honey stain on house walls is caused by an established beehive or one that has been exterminated, typically by a pest control company, and left in the structure. Some pest control companies have been sued by home owners for withholding information regarding the structural damages and staining from not removing the beehive. For this reason and other humanitarian reasons many pest control companies do not... read more - Mildew stains on stucco from melted honey.
Bad smell coming from my wall
There are typically two reasons that cause a bad smell where a beehive has been exterminated. Often the honey from the bee hive attracts rodents. Occasionally, bees will kill the rodent that is is trying to get the honey. If killed by the bees, this can cause a real bad smell that hangs around for quite some time. If you are not sure where the smell is coming from... read more - Bad smell coming from my wall.
Prices and Cost of Bee Removal
How to find the right price on structural bee removal from walls chimneys and attics can be a buzz kill in itself. It takes a little research along with perhaps a few free quotes. Getting stung by a bee is bad enough, let alone being overcharged for a bee removal service, this can be especially so if Africanized bees are new to your county or state. In this new area you can find yourself in a pickle. No beekeepers want to collect your bees anymore, and you have trouble... read more...Find the right price for bee removal.
Get Rid of Bees TopDo it Yourself - Removing the Honey and Honeycomb
If the bees are attached to the house, trying to remove the honey and the bees yourself (if the hive has been killed) is possible but almost always a bad idea. It's a very messy job and after you finish repairs it is very likely that bees will still be attracted to that structure. When bees smell an old hive in the structure they think anywhere on that structure is a good place to build a home. You can expect to get stung. After an effective eradication (if the bees are being killed) bees will continue to return to the hive from the fields, in addition to... read more - Do it Yourself - Removing honey and honeycomb
How to Kill Bees?
How to kill bees or how to exterminate bees is an often sought by do it yourself bee removal methods. Most people aren't going out of their way to try and kill bees but generally 'how to kill bees' is in reference to finding ways to get rid bees in or near the house.
Live removal is a preferred versus killing or exterminating honey bees. If you're not sure what kind of bees you have... read more - How to kill bees
Bee Control Methods
Bee Control is generally sought by individuals with recurring bee problems. After much trial and error most people eventually realize that to solve a bee problem they need to remove the smell of old and new honey. Here are the most common bee control mistakes people make when trying bee control or in solving a bee problem. If you need help give us a call, we can help you with your bee problem. That's what we do!
In his younger years John grew up around his father's beekeeping hobby and remembers riding along to pickup bee swarms. Later in college he stumbled into removing beehives from structures to earn money for college. Although he never finished his education, 90% of John's employees are high school or college students. His interests in this field are to provide jobs for students, elevate/educate the bee removal industry, and save local bees and honey that would otherwise bee exterminated with pesticides. Although facing difficult challenges in the beginning, they now provide bee removal services in much of the US including California, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Denver Co, and Atlanta GA, Washington, and New York visit the county bee removal page for service area updates.
John is currently working toward developing an open source style business model that promotes the health and growth of small business. John can be contacted here John@AdkinsBees.com He is currently interested in non profit, open source, startup businesses solutions that have positive impacts.
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