Seven old communities, one city
Miami Gardens Bees in Houses Built Before the Stadium
Nearly three of every four homes in Miami Gardens were built between 1950 and 1979. That age shows up in trim, vents and roof edges, which is where honey bees move in.
Around Miami Gardens
- Became a cityMay 13, 2003, from seven unincorporated communities
- Detached housesAbout two-thirds of all housing units
- Built 1950 to 1969Roughly 53% of the housing stock
- StadiumHard Rock Stadium, opened 1987
- UniversitiesSt. Thomas University and Florida Memorial University
Before Miami Gardens had a city hall, it was a patchwork of unincorporated places: Carol City, Norland, Scott Lake, Andover, Lake Lucerne, Bunche Park and Opa-locka North. They were joined as one city in 2003, but the houses are much older than the charter. The city's housing plan counts about 29 percent of homes from the 1950s and 23 percent from the 1960s, and two-thirds of all units are detached houses on their own lots.
A honey bee colony looking for a home sends scouts to measure dark, dry hollows with a narrow door. A house that has weathered many hurricane seasons, been re-roofed once or twice and patched by several owners has plenty of those: a fascia board pulled off its rafter tail, a soffit vent missing its screen, a hole drilled for a long-gone cable line. When the swarm arrives, workers start drawing comb on the first day. By the time someone notices bees at the corner of the roof, there can be several pounds of wax, brood and honey inside. Read our notes on scout bees if you only see a handful inspecting a crack.
The parts of an older Miami Gardens house bees pick
Eaves and fascia
Wood trim on a mid-century house has been painted over so many times that the joints hide their gaps. Where a board has shrunk or a vent screen has rusted away, a swarm can slip into the eave and hang comb from the underside of the roof deck.
Pipe and vent holes
Openings cut through an outside wall for plumbing, a clothes dryer or an air conditioner line rarely stay caulked forever. Bees use the hole as a front door and build in the hollow behind the wall, sometimes from the floor up to the attic.
Curbside meter boxes
On a street of single-family lots, the water meter and the irrigation valves live in plastic or concrete boxes near the curb. Nobody opens them for weeks, which suits a colony until the meter reader lifts a lid full of comb.
Back-lot sheds
Tool sheds, workshops and carports that were later walled in give bees gaps under metal roofing and inside stored boxes and furniture. Because these buildings stay shut, a colony can grow large before the owner walks in.
Seeing bees work one corner of your roof?
Snap the corner from the driveway and text it over; a picture helps the crew plan which ladder and tools to bring.
Notes on the old communities inside the city
Carol City
The community with the odd name: the developer wanted Coral City and swapped two letters after a lawsuit threat from Coral Gables. Parts of it were still farmland in the 1960s, so the age of a house, and the condition of its trim, varies by block.
Norland
Also known as Norwood, it covers about 3.7 square miles and includes Miami Norland High School. Houses are close together, so if the bees fly toward a neighbor's carport, say so on the phone.
Scott Lake
The stadium sits inside the old Scott Lake boundaries, with parking for roughly 26,700 cars. On a game, concert or Grand Prix weekend, nearby streets behave differently, so the crew sets its arrival around the event.
Lake Lucerne
This 2.6-square-mile section holds the Calder Casino property, where Calder Race Course opened in 1971. A swarm on a large commercial site is handled through its facilities office, with insurance paperwork sent first.
Andover
Andover is where several Miami television stations keep their transmitters. Towers and equipment shelters give a resting swarm somewhere to hang, and nobody touches those cabinets without the operator's say-so.
Opa-locka North
Both universities are here, along with Monsignor Edward Pace High School. On a campus, the facilities office can arrange the visit and ask for a photo record and an itemized invoice for its files.
Finding the comb, then closing the seam
The hard part of an older-house job is knowing where the comb ends. A thermal camera picks up the warmth of a working cluster through stucco, plaster or a soffit panel, so the crew cuts once and cuts small. Our thermal imaging explainer shows what that picture looks like. Once bees, wax and honey are out, our own licensed contractors, roofers and painters put the trim or wall back and paint it to match. That repair is not cosmetic. Wax residue keeps its scent, and a seam left open is a standing invitation, which is the subject of why bees return. The workmanship carries our warranty, meaning a return trip if a new colony ever tries a seam we closed. An entrance up at the roofline falls under our soffit and eave service; a pipe or dryer hole low on the stucco points to wall cavity removal instead.
Stadium grounds, campuses and big sites
Hard Rock Stadium opened in 1987, has hosted six Super Bowls, took in the Miami Open tennis tournament in 2019, and from 2022 has hosted a Formula One circuit on its grounds. Nearby, St. Thomas University spreads over about 150 acres, and Florida Memorial University, a historically Black university, moved to its roughly 50-acre campus here in 1968.
Light poles, chain-link, signs and stacked equipment on grounds that size give a traveling swarm plenty of places to hang while its scouts look around. Site managers want proof of coverage before a crew steps on the property. We are licensed and insured, and a COI can go to an HOA, a campus office or a business ahead of time. See swarm pickup for clusters in the open and HOA and commercial work for managed property.
Owners, renters and the bill
About 68 percent of occupied homes in Miami Gardens were owner-occupied in 2010, well above the county figure of roughly 56 percent. Here the reader is more likely to be the person who will approve the cut and pay for the patch. Tenants can start with bees in a rental, and sellers with bees turned up by an inspector.
Bees sitting low, say under a curbside lid, land around $300 to $400. A colony spread through an eave that needs carpentry and paint can reach the thousands, and the cost page breaks that down. A Sunday-night call after a game is billed at the after-hours rate, which is higher than a Tuesday morning. If an insurer or a buyer will want proof, request pictures and an itemized invoice.
How a visit runs in Miami Gardens
Picture from the driveway
Stand at the end of the driveway, well clear of the flight path, and photograph the spot the bees use. That image often hints whether the job is a curbside box, an eave needing a tall ladder, or a wall the thermal camera has to read first.
Check the stadium calendar
If you live near Hard Rock Stadium, mention any game, concert or race day. We will aim for a window that keeps the truck out of event traffic.
Camera, cut, vacuum
The crew locates the warm cluster, opens only as much as it must, and draws the bees into a ventilated box bound for a beekeeper. Comb and honey are removed by hand.
Trim back on, paint matched
Our own tradespeople close the opening the same way it was built. Photos and the itemized invoice follow if you asked for them.
Matching removal work
Questions people ask us
My Carol City house dates from the 1960s. Is that why the bees found it?
Partly. Age opens seams in trim, vents and roof edges, and scouts test every one. A newer house can still get bees, but a home that has been patched by several owners offers more choices. Send a photo of where they are flying in, and the crew can start planning before the thermal camera confirms how deep the colony goes.
Killed or relocated: what happens to a colony living in my soffit?
Relocated, never killed. Live bees are vacuumed into a box, the soffit comb comes out by hand, and the colony is relocated by a beekeeper. Poisoning bees inside a soffit would also leave honey and wax to ferment and attract roaches and ants, so removal protects the house as well.
Our street fills up on Dolphins game days. Will that delay a visit?
It only changes the plan, not the promise. Tell us about the event when you call so the crew arrives before traffic builds or after it clears. The 24-hour response guarantee applies no matter what is on at the stadium, and anyone being stung still comes first.
I rent a house in Norland. Is the bee problem mine or my landlord's?
Either of you can call, but the owner normally signs off on cutting into the building and on the repair. Tell your landlord early. We can copy the quote, the photos and the itemized invoice to both of you.
What should I budget for bees in the meter box by my curb?
Those curbside lids sit at ankle height, which keeps the work simple and the price near $300 to $400. An after-hours or weekend call costs more than a weekday one. The quote is free and is based on what your photo and the site actually show.
Places next door
Point us at the seam they use
Use the quote form or call, and we will plan the job around your house, your lot and whatever is on at the stadium.
Tell us where the bees are
Three fields are enough to start: your name, a number we can reach, and the city or neighborhood. Anything else you add saves a question on the callback.
- (786) 442-2496
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- Someone picks up day and night