Extracting Honeybees from buildings is considerably more difficult than collecting swarm clusters. When the colony is first established, only a few pounds of adult bees are present, but these bees rapidly build comb, collect honey, and begin to rear more bees. 

A well-established colony may have up to 100 pounds of honey, many pounds of adult and developing bees, and pounds of beeswax comb. Removing such as nest is a challenge. The first step is to determine the exact location of the comb and size of the colony. 

Although honey bees can be killed in place inside buildings by using pesticides that are labeled for killing bees inside of structures, this removal option often leads to undesirable consequences. (Note: These chemicals are available only to licensed pest control operators.) If the adult bees fall into a large pile, they may hold their body moisture and rot in place, producing a very bad odor. Liquid from the decomposing mass frequently penetrates the structure, leading to costly replacements. If the colony is well established, there are further issues associated with killing the colony. Unattended brood can also rot and become very odorous. 

Unattended honey stores can absorb moisture and ferment, creating gas that causes the cappings holding honey in the cells to burst. Gravity will start moving the honey down attached surfaces until it encounters a horizontal impediment, such as a window frame, doorframe, firebreak, ceiling, or floor. Honey then seeps through the drywall, leading to large amounts of cleanup and expensive replacement. If pesticides were used to kill the bees, then the honey, wax and, dead bees are contaminated and must be handled as hazardous waste. A better choice than applying insecticides is having a beekeeper remove the bees without killing them.

Questions to Ask Your Beekeeper

Not all beekeepers are the same. Much like finding any professional, make sure yours has the knowledge, tools and experience to deal with your issue.

1. Are you insured for bee removal?
2. How much experience do you have in relocating hives?
3. Do you relocate them alive?
4. Do you remove the honeycomb and honey?
5. What professional associations do you belong to?

*MJD Apiary LLC. Is an insured bee removal company *