You can call a pest control company, possibly a carpenter, or you can call a beekeeper to remove bee infestations. A carpenter won’t know how to properly remove the bees, and a pest control company will come and kill the bees, but they won’t remove the hive, comb, dead bees, honey… This will eventually create a disaster, leaving you with a huge mess, and most probably damage to your home – a lot of damage – that will require a lot of money to fix. So save yourself aggravation, time, and money and call the right people from the beginning to remove bee infestations. Call a bee removal company that employs a beekeeper.
There are generally three types of beekeepers:
- The Hobbyist
- The Part-Time beekeeper
- The Professional
The hobbyist beekeeper
This person is more than happy to come to your property and remove the bees to relocate to an apiary that they are building. Most hobbyist beekeepers are not licensed, nor are they insured, and most of them do not have construction experience. They probably won’t remove the hive, comb, and honey – but they may. They won’t bee proof your home, and you will just end up with another beehive.
The part-time beekeeper
The part-time beekeeper removes bees from structures that have some knowledge of construction, but in all honesty, has limited experience, and may not be licensed, or insured. They are more concerned with retrieving the bees than they are in doing as little damage to the property as possible. Thus resulting in the destruction of the property, or ruining the property integrity.
The professional beekeeper
This beekeeper will be licensed, and a good company will also be insured. Professionals come with varying years of experience. A licensed beekeeper in Texas will be licensed through the Texas Department of Agriculture, which will also mean that they have a Pest Control license. It’s important for a beekeeper to also be qualified to use insecticides as this is an important step in bee infestations. There are always some worker bees who are out working when their hive is removed and relocated. Unfortunately, these strays don’t know where their community has moved, so they’ll try to re-establish in their old location. The insecticide is an unfortunate necessity to keep this from happening. A professional beekeeper will train their people in proper removal techniques, and they also abide by a set of standards, ethics, and integrity. They also use professional equipment, for example, Bee Safe Bee Removal employs the use of infrared cameras to locate the hive within a home or building. This camera lessens the damage done to the property.
Can you imagine the damage done to your property by a beekeeper who is punching holes into your ceiling, or walls, on the hunt to locate the hive? A professional beekeeper knows what precautions to take – they know how much of an area to cordon off for people’s safety. They will know when it’s necessary to ask people to leave an area. A carpenter, won’t know how to do this, and a pest control company definitely won’t do it, because, well – they exterminate. Smoke is used when relocating a hive. This can be dangerous, and can, if improperly used, result in a structure fire. This is another great reason why it’s not only important to use a licensed beekeeper, but also an insured company.
Bee Safe Bee Removal is insured up to two million dollars per location.
It’s important for the company that you choose to be a member of multiple associations. Examples of the type of association you want them to be affiliated with are, the Trinity Valley Association, Texas Department of Agriculture, and the Dallas Apiary Society. Having an Inter-state Transportation Permit is highly recommended and a good keeper will have this. Another important license to have is a Pesticide Application License – you really shouldn’t hire a beekeeper who doesn’t have this essential license that can not prevent a bee infestation. Look for a company that has a great online reputation with an ability to remove bee infestations. A company that has a five-star rating, a company that has longevity, how many good vs. bad reviews do they have? Look for a company that is rated by Google Guarantee (an insured program,) that is a Yelp Premier customer, that has a BBB A+ rating. This will ensure you get a removal that can stop bee infestations.
Checklist for choosing a bee removal company:
- Are they a pest control company, a carpenter, or a licensed beekeeping relocation service? (In case you haven’t figured it out – you want to use the licensed beekeeping relocation service.)
- Is the beekeeping company licensed, and are they insured?
- How long have they been in business?
- How much experience do they have removing bee infestations?
- Do they have a good online reputation?
- Who are they rated with BBB, Google, Angie’s List, and what are those ratings?
- What associations are they a member of?
- Can their memberships be easily found on their website?
- Are their memberships in local and/or state beekeeping associations?
- What licenses and permits do they have?
- A Pesticide Application License?
- An Inter-state Transportation Permit?
- Licensed through their state agriculture department?
Why it’s important for a bee removal company to hold a pesticide applicator license.
It’s important to know why a company needs a pesticide applicator license. Some companies may decide that it’s easier to exterminate, rather than relocate. At Bee Safe Bee Removal, we have a pesticide application license because it’s one of the steps we employ in our removal process. We do not kill the bees in the hive. We safely remove them and relocate them. Once the bees are relocated from the property, the hive, comb, and honey are removed. Then, and only then is pesticide applied. The only reason we apply the pesticide is so that any strays that come back to the location of their hive cannot start a new colony. I guarantee that a carpenter, and a pest control company won’t meet many of the above checklists. Really, your best option is a beekeeping relocation service that meets that the high standards discussed in this article, and will also properly bee proof your property or remove bee infestations.
