Bee Removal

Bees on Your Property?

Currently, the state of Florida recommends that all wild (or feral) honey bee colonies found in proximity to people (in walls, birdhouses, trees, etc.) be eradicated by a certified Pest Control Operator or PCO (what is a PCO?). Statistics out of the Southwest show that 50% of Africanized honey bee stinging attacks occur in instances where the victim was aware of the colony’s existence. Therefore, if the nest had been initially removed, the stinging attack would not have occurred.

See our Article on choosing a PCO: Choosing the Right PCO for Honey Bee Removal: A Consumer Guide

Download Florida Department of Agriculture's list of trained pest control professionals [200KB xls] (tabs on bottom of Excel sheet indicate counties).

The Bees Seem Calm...

Just because a colony is calm now doesn't mean that it will always be. Bee colonies become more defensive once their nest is established as they have something to protect, and this can take a few months. Also, there is evidence that the average queen (at least in managed colonies) lives about 6 months to one year. When a new queen is born to replace the old queen, she leaves the colony to mate in the air with 15-20 different male bees (drones). Therefore, she is mating with any drones from nearby colonies (not with bees from her hive). If African bees are in the area, the new queen may mate with the African drones, and the resulting offspring will likely display African characteristics. Therefore, a colony that was calm (or even European) 6 months ago may be defensive (or even African) today.

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The Bees are Disappearing...

The African bee issue and the disappearance of managed honey bees are unrelated as far as most experts are concerned. This means that eradicating one wild honey bee nest in Florida does nothing to hurt honey bee populations overall. In fact, there can be as many as 100-200 bee colonies per square mile in areas where African bees occur. So, even removing 1 colony does very little to the overall population of wild bees. It's simply a public safety issue.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is NOT searching for wild colonies in an effort to destroy them all. But, they are recommending that honey bees found in proximity to people be eradicated by trained Pest Control Operators.

• read more on disappearance of honey bees...
• read Edis document on Colony Collapse Disorder...
• Download Florida Department of Agriculture's list of trained pest control professionals [200KB xls] (tabs on bottom of Excel sheet indicate counties).

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