Bees aren’t typically the kinds of insects we think of when we imagine destructive pests. Indeed, virtually all that we hear about these familiar bugs involves praise. For instance, the University of Arkansas’ Division of Agriculture Research & Extension states, “There are around 20,000 species of bees in the world, and nearly 4,000 species native to North America, but the European honey bee, Apis Mellifera, performs more than 80 percent of pollination on most of our commercial crops. Approximately one third of our diet is directly or indirectly dependent on bee pollination.”
But while bees bountifully benefit our everyday lives, they can cause serious problems when they take up residence in your backyard or in the walls of your home or business. That’s why Smithereen offers its no-kill bee removal service.
Bee Control Specialists
Why focus on non-lethal bee removal services? Much of it has to do with concerns regarding the long-term health of bee colonies, and since honey bees seem especially affected, honey bee removal services have sought to be more friendly to these pollinating insects. Since the 1980s, wild bee populations have suffered precipitous declines, and 2006 saw the hive populations of most commercial beekeepers halved or even cut by 90 percent. Given the obvious issues faced by these helpful insects, live bee removal has become a priority for Smithereen.
While we care about the fate of bees, we also care about our clients and anyone else facing a bee problem. Though bees don’t mean any harm, their presence can cause significant damage to both people and property. If you believe you have a bee problem, you should contact the bee-control specialists right away.
Need Help With Bee and Hive Removal?
Reasons to Hire a Professional Bee Removal Company
Some brave souls prefer to handle wildlife without professional help, but removing bees poses significantly more issues than other kinds of pests. Some of these include:
- Damage to the exterior of your structure. The four most common kinds of bees are honey bees, mason bees, carpenter bees, and bumble bees. These different insects may all make their homes in different parts on the exterior of your home or commercial building. Getting to them may require the removal of gutters, roofing material, siding, and the like.
- Damage to the interior of your structure. In some cases, bees can migrate from the outside of your property to crawl spaces and the areas between walls. Other than the obvious structural issues required by remediation, the interior presence of bees can cause other serious issues. Leftover honey can attract new insects, dead bee larvae will lead to terrible odors, mold will begin to grow, and bees could even break into living spaces of your property.
- Destruction of landscaping, potentially including large trees. Sometimes bees only appear on the branches of trees or in isolated landscaping. Other times, they may fully infest the interior of a plant, making removal much more difficult.
- Risk of personal injury. Bees sting. Stings hurt. They can even cause lethal anaphylactic reactions in some people. This alone should be reason enough to not try to tackle a bee problem on your own.
- Risk of misidentification. Trying to remove unhappy bees can (to employ a pun) sting, but do you know what hurts a whole lot more? Realizing mid-task that said bees are actually hornets. Believe it or not, some types of hornets bear a striking resemblance to bees, and they’re far more dangerous and difficult to deal with.
- Risk of violating local ordinances. Different states and municipalities may have different laws regarding how you should treat bees. If you fail to adhere to them, you could end up being legally liable.
Bee Removal Services
Smithereen provides bee removal services for any area in or around your property where they may appear. For outside areas, such as in the ground or in a tree, we employ several methods. Sometimes we can dig them out and relocate the hive. When bees have infested the interior of a tree, we seal the space and coax them into a new, pre-prepared hive. When carpenter bees have dug into decks, we apply a chemical solution that encourages them to leave the space. Finally, if bees make their home in a soffit or other exterior section of a building, we remove it, relocate the insects, and remove any leftover nest material, honeycomb, or honey.
Interior areas of a home or business deserve special attention. Given that sheltered bee colonies can contain 50,000 or more individual insects, experts must take care to thoroughly remove the hive and minimize damage to the structure. This involves:
- Finding the specific area that houses the hive
- Removing only as much drywall as needed to reach and relocate the hive
- Remediating any damage done by the bees
- Patching any means of ingress and ensuring that the bees don’t return
Eco-friendly Bee Removal
Though removing a bee’s nest or colony may sound daunting, at its most basic level it involves gaining access to the hive. The beekeeper will don appropriate protective gear and may use implements such as a bee removal spray, smoke, or a bee vacuum to place the bees into a bee box. After the insects have been safely removed from your property, the cleaning out and repair process can begin.
Though we’ve already mentioned it above, part of the reason why you want to contact a professional to help with your honey bee removal is that many insects look like bees, but aren’t. The process becomes much different if another kind of insect is at play.
Contact Your Local Bee Removal Specialists
Whether you need honey bee removal or find yourself dealing with an entirely different kind of pest, contact Smithereen Pest Management Service today! For four generations, we have dealt with unusual or tough-to-manage pests, such as bats, squirrels, skunks, and various kinds of birds. Our more than one-hundred years of exceptional service have broadened our area of coverage to include Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Kansas, and Wisconsin. Your good is our goal, and we stand ready to help you solve your problem.