Other Local Beekeeping Resources:
Mendocino Beekeepers (email A.Cole for list)
We remove LIVE Bees!
If you have a swarm or a hive that needs removal (in Sonoma County, CA), please call/text:
(707) 696-0861
~ Se habla Español ~
We, Liz & Joey R, have been working with bees in Sonoma County since 2002. We always work as a team because it is safer and more effective. We are experienced in both bee removal and any necessary carpenterial repair skills. We have scaffolding, but if the hive is over 25 feet high, we may need to rent a boom. If you call us before they move in (and make honeycomb, lay eggs, settle down), when they’re just a swarm, we’ll all be MUCH happier. DON’T WAIT! FYI We do not use a vacuum unless there is no other way as it causes too many bee deaths and can damage the queen As a community service, we capture Swarms for free and pass them on to other beekeepers or raise them ourselves. Please call as soon as you see a swarm as they are merely resting while seeking out another home and may take off at any moment. We will come within the hour or pass the information on to another capable beekeeper. If, on the other hand, you have an established Hive (ie. living in a wall, not dangling off a branch) we will come out and inspect the situation, make a plan and run it by the interested parties before doing anything. Joey is an experienced carpenter and will do minimal damage to your property with an eye towards repair (which he can also do if you prefer). Please see our Step-by-step page for more details.
Swarms are free!
Just call us and we will collect them from you!
Hive Removal in Bodega, 2020
REASONS WHY YOU SHOULDN'T JUST KILL BEES WITH PESTICIDES:
1) WE NEED THEM. They make most of our food possible! That’s why it’s illegal to kill honey bees!
2) STAINING/STRUCTURAL DAMAGE: You can't just kill off a honey bee colony with insecticides and then ignore it. A hive could easily have 100 lbs. of honey in the walls. Once the bees are dead, there is no way to control the temperature inside the cavity, the summer heat will melt the wax, honey will start coming out of the comb and you could have honey leaking through your walls and window sills, causing stains and other damage.
3) ATTRACTIVE TO OTHER PESTS: In addition, a dead honey bee colony with all that honey is very attractive to other animals like wasps, ants, cockroaches and rodents which might start working their way into the crawl space of the house. And then there is the smell of a decaying honey bee colony with 40,000 bees and another 20,000 larvae and pupae, fermenting honey, the works.
4) THEY'LL COME BACK: You can't just seal off the hole and wait, because the bees will live for a long time and start looking for a way out, possibly chewing holes into plasterboard and such in attempt to find an escape route. And if you have hive smell remaining in your house, it will attract other swarms and you'll have the same problem all over again.
5) PESTICIDES ARE BAD FOR YOU AND OTHER BEES: Not only would you be exposing you and your family to potentially toxic pesticides, any residual pesticide will be picked up and transferred to other colonies of honeybees and kill them too. Many poisonings of honey bee colonies occur for this reason (transferred pesticides). We need the bees!
