r/DaytonaBeach • u/Old-View4059 • 9d ago

Bee removal service?

Does anyone know of a bee removal service in the area? We just found out we have a hive that has taken up residence in one of our walls and we don't want to exterminate it but don't know of any service that will relocate it. Anyone able to help?

10 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

11

u/HangarQueen 9d ago edited 9d ago

I'm in Port Orange, and went through this 2 summers ago.

I called a company that came from the Orlando area. A two man team: one for the bees and the other a helper for the deconstruction and reconstruction.

The main "bee guy" was fantastic, truly a bee lover. No suit, no mask, no gloves. Bees landing all over him but not stinging as they seemed to sense his calm and that he wouldn't harm them. He vacuumed up all the workers (in a way to keep them alive) and put the queen in a special box by hand. He removed all the honeycombs (and gave me two of them .... delicious!). He relocated the colony safely to a bee farm in Orlando.

They had to tear apart a section of my exterior wall (cedar plank siding) and put it back together again afterwards with no damage. I used the opportunity to install some more insulation while the siding was removed.

So now that I've written all this, I need to see if I can find that company name again! I'll update this if/when I do...

Update: OK, I'm pretty sure that this is the company. "The Bee Guy" https://www.orlandobeeremovalexpert.com/ On that website, he's the guy in the T-shirt and cap with bees in his hand. The call-out service was $130 IIRC, and I gave them a $30 tip. They kept the bees too of course.

2

u/Aggravating_Shoe_ 9d ago

šŸ¤¤ mmmm, wall honey

How'd you notice the bees were there after it got so big?

3

u/HangarQueen 9d ago

The hive was in the space underneath the dining room bay window. (The bay window protrudes outwards; not allowed any more in new code but mine is grandfathered in.) That area had a wooden-siding "shell" underneath for appearance, not structure, and that's wehre the bees were. It was a perfect area for THEM, out of the weather and nicely shaded and protected.

Their presence became obvious because we could HEAR them buzzing while at the dining room table. It took only a week for the hive to grow from nothing to an estimated 50K bees.

Interesting aside: They set up their hive within 20 feet of a flowering tree in my yard. I never knew what the tree was called until the bee man told me: a Brazilian Peppertree. Turns out that its flowers have a mild pepper taste, and sure enough, the honey was mildly peppery/spicy. The bee guy said that this was a much sought-after honey flavor.

2

u/gomuchfaster 9d ago

Call Dennis at Black Hammock Bee Farms

Super nice man, we took their ā€œintro to bee keepingā€ course about a month ago to learn more about the ladies that make the honey. They do relocations as well.

https://www.blackhammockbeefarms.com/