Since prehistoric humans were learning the rudiments of sharing close living space with animals, they’ve found plenty of reasons to get rid of bees. Now, however, the pendulum is swinging the other way, and we are finding ways to keep bees keeping on, including live beehive removal when humans and bees run afoul of each other.
So why choose live beehive removal instead of exterminating the hive? Yes, bees can sting and swarm when their ire is up, but their benefits are too great to want to give up. Bees help pollinate plants. Bees provide honey. Bees give us wax, too. In some cases, honey can be a valuable part of medicines. But those aren’t the only reasons to choose live beehive removal.
5 reasons to choose live beehive removal
1. You can support the bee’s lifeline
The trouble is that honeybees are living half as long as they did half a century ago. In the 1970s, a worker bee averaged a 34-day lifespan. Now it’s about 17 days. Why? Genetics play a role, as do pesticides and food issues. The thing is, we are helping ourselves when troublesome beehives are relocated rather than destroyed.
When bees, who once shared the planet with the dinosaurs, unexpectedly set up shop near homes or businesses now, your choice is to share space with them or not.
Dinosaurs did, and it says something about the hardiness of bees that when dinosaurs were wiped out 66 million years ago when an asteroid hit the earth, bees survived just fine. But that hardiness is being tested now, and live removal can assist bee longevity.
2. Keeps the food chain intact
Scientists suggest that about one-third of the food humanity consumes comes as a result of honeybee pollination. That’s proof enough of the necessity to keep bees alive. When we move them rather than kill them, we are helping ourselves.
And it’s not just food, of course. Flowering plants in your garden are pollinated by bees. Forests are pollinated by bees. Deserts are pollinated by bees.
Not every plant that winds up as part of your meal is thanks to bee pollination, of course. But fruits like blueberries and cherries are 90% dependent on honeybee pollination. For almonds, it’s 100%. Bees are also primarily responsible for the pollination of apples, cranberries, watermelons, cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins, peaches and pears, to name a few.
3. Moving hives doesn’t harm bees or humans
When you turn to live beehive removal, the bees will be transplanted, not killed. The gadget that does the trick is a vacuum, one specially designed to keep the bees alive and kicking during the process.
When done correctly, the honeycomb and pollen will go with the bees to their new abode. And because the bees aren’t harmed in the moving, there won’t be piles of dead bees to deal with afterward.
4. Prevents future beehives
Moving a hive dramatically reduces the chance of a new hive moving in. When a hive is merely destroyed, the smell of bee’s wax gets left over and serves as a homing signal to other bees in the area. The homeowners will find their property has become more susceptible to a bee swarm, heightening the need for swarm removal.
5. Keeps chemicals at bay
The live removal process means you don’t have to use synthetic chemicals, harsh substances, or even fire in order to get the job done.
Chemicals can be fatal to the bees, and they can be dangerous for humans and pets, too; all the better to use them as sparingly as possible.
Bee removal companies will continue to use those chemicals to combat bee infestations, but most will suggest live hive removal as the best first option.
Beehive issues to consider
Following Sherlock’s lead
Noted beekeeper Sherlock Holmes was said to have spent his years in retirement keeping bees in an apiary in his backyard. The Holmes-ian live-and-let-live manner of handling bees worked well for him, and can work in your backyard as well.
There are precautions you must consider, however. Over time, the hive is likely to grow, and swarms from the colony may move to other parts of your property to set up shop. They like chimneys, wall recesses, decks and trees, and if they encroach on areas you use often, they may find a need to defend their new home.
In most cases, you won’t want to have a second colony of bees nearby.
Health and fear
Simple human interaction between you, your family and friends and bees may be something to avoid. Some people are afraid of bees (it’s called apiphobia) and others are allergic to them (a disease known as anaphylaxis).
These issues can be magnified if the bees are not in the yard but in or attached to your house. Bees like to set up shop in attics, under eaves, and around soffits.
Crowded conditions
Like humans, bees need their space. A typical commercially produced hive is about 22 inches by 16 inches by 10 inches.
A hive settled by a queen bee isn’t generally that big, but a perfect storm of the bee population, sufficient resources, proper weather conditions, space for expansion and the health of the queen can lead to much bigger hives.
Experts suggest that hives have at least five feet of space around them in all directions. When that’s not possible, it’s nature’s way of suggesting the hive be moved.
Insecticide is harmful to honeybees
There’s no question that dealing with bees will go more quickly with the use of an insecticide. But that solution isn’t a good one.
Both the bees in the hive and their future progeny will be wiped out by the insecticide, which helps the overall bee population not at all.
More than that, any bee colony within two miles of the insecticide-removed hive is at risk of being negatively impacted and killed by the insecticide, all of which has negative consequences for your backyard, your fruit or vegetable garden and your flower beds.
Treating even one bee swarm or beehive with insecticides can have devastating consequences for foraging animals over many miles as the dying bees carry the poison with them.
And there will be the issue of dead bees, which will need to be cleaned up near the spot of the bee nest, either by you or by bee removal experts.
So what to do?
It is possible to remove a live bee colony by yourself. But you’ll need lots of protective gear and other equipment to get the job done. And that can run into serious cash, not to mention the ever-present risk of being stung, perhaps multiple times.
Local beekeepers may be willing, even anxious, to take your bees off your hands. Local apiaries will go that route, too, as will some farms. You can move a new colony to a more remote spot on your property if you have enough space.
If you choose to go with a pest control company or a hive specialist for live removal, you will minimize the risk of injury and ensure that the bees will be well handled. If not done correctly, state or federal laws may be at risk, so bee removal services are a good option.
Main Photo Credit: David Brossard | Wikimedia Commons | CC BY-SA 2.0
