What Miami-Dade Owners Ask Before a Bee Removal

Move everyone indoors and shut doors and windows. Do not swat or spray, since that brings more bees out. Dial 911 right away if a person's lips or throat swell, they wheeze, or they took a lot of stings. After that, phone us; anyone actively being stung gets handled ahead of routine work.

Not until it has been removed. Mower and trimmer vibration and noise are a common reason colonies get defensive. Keep machines, kids and pets well back from the entrance.

South Florida has Africanized honey bees mixed into its wild population, and some colonies defend their nest harder than others. You cannot tell by looking, so treat every wild colony with care.

Picture a ball of bees hanging off a branch with no wax around it: that is a swarm, parked while its scouts shop for real estate. Once they pick a hollow and start drawing wax inside it, you have an established colony. Swarms tend to leave; colonies stay.

It depends on the season and the space, but a colony that settles in spring can fill a good part of a wall bay with comb within months. The sooner it comes out, the smaller the opening and the repair.

It might be scouts checking the gap, or the first days of a colony. Watch for a steady stream going in and out over an hour. Our scout bee article explains how to tell.

Usually, since wax built behind a surface can only leave through an opening in it. A thermal camera shows where it sits so the cut lands on target and stays small.

A swarm can be boxed quickly. A colony inside a structure usually takes a few hours, longer when it spreads across several cavities or sits high up.

They are boxed with their comb and brood and handed to beekeepers, who rehome them. No colony is exterminated.

Always. Leaving comb behind invites fermenting honey, pests and another swarm. See comb and honey cleanup.

Our own licensed contractors, roofers and painters can rebuild stucco, drywall, soffit and tile, or you can have your own contractor finish it once we seal the entry.

Tell us. A colony settling again behind a patch our crew made falls under our workmanship warranty and a crew is sent back.

Yes, on request, along with an itemized invoice. Associations, landlords and buyers often ask for both.

Yes. Tell us who should be named as certificate holder, usually the association or its management company, and the COI is sent ahead of the visit. We carry a license and insurance for this work.

Yes. Storefronts, offices and schools often prefer early or late visits. After-hours work is priced above a weekday visit.

We cover all of Miami-Dade, from the beaches to the farm roads, and nowhere outside it. Every community on our list sits on the Miami-Dade area page.