Village of Pinecrest, South Dade
Honey Bees on Pinecrest's Acre Lots, Found and Moved Out Alive
Pinecrest grew up as ranch houses on acre lots under heavy shade. That layout hands a honey bee colony a lot of quiet places to settle, and it changes how a removal here is planned.
Around Pinecrest
- IncorporatedMarch 12, 1996, as the county's 29th municipality
- ZoningMostly Residential Estate: one house per acre or per 2.5 acres
- Pinecrest GardensParrot Jungle's 1936 grounds at Red Road and SW 111th Street
- CanopyTree City USA, with more than 10,000 street trees planted from 1997 on
- Area7.54 square miles between the Snapper Creek Canal and Howard Drive
The village took its shape in the 1950s and 1960s, when ranch-style houses went up on acre lots, and most of Pinecrest is still zoned for one home per acre or per 2.5 acres. A scout bee hunting for a new cavity has plenty to inspect on a property that size: a broken limb that rotted hollow, a shed nobody opens until hurricane season, a long soffit run on a low roofline, an irrigation box under the hedge. With that much distance between the house, the back fence and the neighbors, a colony can grow for a whole season before anyone walks close enough to see the traffic at its door.
Hurricane Andrew wrecked much of this area in August 1992, so the village now mixes original ranch houses with homes rebuilt or replaced afterward, and each kind leaves different gaps. On a Pinecrest lot the hard part is usually finding the hive, not reaching it. The second part is leaving the wall, the roof or the tree in good shape afterward, since the village wants a permit before most trees come down. Next door, Palmetto Bay and Coral Gables have pages of their own.
Where a colony moves in on a Pinecrest lot
Hollow limbs in big shade trees
Mature trees on wide lots develop cavities where a branch tore away or rot crept in, and honey bees will fill that space with comb and use a knothole as the front door. The village treats any tree over 18 inches across at four feet up as a specimen tree, so the plan is to open the cavity, not cut the tree.
Soffits on long ranch rooflines
A ranch house from the fifties or sixties wraps itself in eaves, and the soffit runs can stretch the full length of the house. One loose vent screen or a gap where fascia meets the roof deck lets a swarm into the dry space above, where comb hangs from the rafters. See soffit and eave hives.
Sheds and detached garages
Acre lots leave room for a tool shed, a pool house or a second garage at the far edge of the yard, and some stay shut for weeks at a time. The still, dry air inside a stud bay or under a raised floor suits a colony well. Getting at it usually means pulling a few boards and putting them back.
Irrigation valve and meter boxes
Keeping an acre green takes a sprinkler system, and its valve boxes sit flush with the lawn, often under shrubs or groundcover. A small colony can pack a box with comb quickly, and the first warning is often a mower or a landscaper's boot. Box removals are among the simpler jobs.
Pool cages and equipment pads
A pool gives foragers water a few feet from shade, which makes the screen enclosure, the pump housing and the heater cabinet next to it attractive in the dry months. Bees inside equipment need care, because the comb often sits against wiring and plumbing.
Humming in a tree beside the pool?
Snap a picture of the entrance with bees in the frame and text it over with the address, and we take it from that picture to a no-cost quote.
Notes from around the village
Old Cutler Road side
Old Cutler Road follows a natural limestone ridge that early settlers used as a trail, and it forms part of the eastern edge; state lawmakers gave it historic highway status in 1974. If your drive off it is long or gated, tell us where the gate is and where a truck can pull fully off the road.
Pinecrest Parkway corridor
US 1, signed here as Pinecrest Parkway, forms the western boundary and holds the village's narrow band of commercial zoning, along with some multi-family buildings. Stores, offices and apartment managers on this strip tend to need a COI and a time when the service door is open. Kendall lies just across the road.
The northern edge
The Snapper Creek Canal and SW 88th Street mark the top of the village, with South Miami beyond. Yards that back onto canal water give foragers an easy drink. Bees bunched in the open on a fence rail or low branch are a swarm that has not yet picked a cavity. Leave it be and call for a pickup instead of reaching for the hose.
Red Road and SW 111th Street
Pinecrest Gardens fills this corner: the original Parrot Jungle site, now a 20-acre village park with more than 1,000 kinds of tropical plants, streams, sinkholes and fissures. Bees inside the park are the village's to report; a colony in a yard nearby is yours, and the quote for it is free.
SW 104th Street parks
Coral Pine Park, with its 2.9-acre pineland preserve, and Flagler Grove Park both sit along SW 104th Street. Near pineland and big lawns, foragers working the flowers can make it harder to tell passing bees from a colony that has moved in.
Howard Drive and the south line
SW 136th Street, known as Howard Drive, forms the southern boundary. Evelyn Greer Park on SW 124th Street and Suniland Park on Pinecrest Parkway serve this half, and their gazebos are the sort of covered structure where a swarm may hang for a day or two.
Finding the hive is most of the work on an acre
On a small city lot, bees at the eave usually mean a hive at the eave. On an acre with old trees, a pool, a shed and a hedge line, the bees you notice may be foragers at the pool steps or the flower beds, while the colony itself sits 50 yards away inside a limb.
The visit starts by following that traffic home. Foragers fly a fairly straight line between water and the entrance, so a sunny mid-morning, with plenty of bees in the air, is a good time to watch. Once the entrance is found, a thermal camera picks up the warmth the cluster gives off through wood, stucco or block, which tells the crew where to open and how large the cut needs to be. Reading a thermal image covers what those pictures do and do not show. If you have only seen a handful of bees poking around a vent, read about scouts checking out a house before assuming a colony is already there.
Before anyone cuts down a tree with bees inside
Pinecrest requires a permit to remove or relocate any tree it has not specifically exempted, and it calls trees over 18 inches in diameter at four feet above the ground specimen trees. Bees living in a trunk can usually be taken out while the trunk stays where it is.
The usual approach is to open the cavity from the side, cut out the comb, move the bees into a hive box and close the opening so the wood can callus over. That leaves the tree standing and keeps leftover honey from drawing the next swarm. If the tree is failing anyway, the village's Building and Planning Department can tell you what it needs; a village arborist can verify a hazardous tree, and some invasive species such as laurel fig, carrotwood and schefflera come out without a fee once a village arborist confirms them. More on this kind of job is on the palm and tree colony page.
Original ranch houses, rebuilds and the gaps in each
A ranch house from the village's first building boom tends to have a long, low roofline, wide eaves, and many rounds of patched vents and fascia. Homes rebuilt after Andrew can be tighter in places but bring their own openings: gaps around newer roof vents, lanai ceilings, decorative trim and the chases where pipes and cables enter.
Every scrap of comb needs to come out, whatever the age of the house. Wax and honey left in a wall or soffit attract new swarms and can soak through drywall or stucco in the heat. Then comes the patch: soffit boards, roof tile, stucco and paint go back on by licensed contractors, roofers and painters who work for us, so there is no second set of trades to hire. Should a colony try to move back into an opening closed on our visit, the warranty brings the crew out again. Why bees come back explains what draws them to the same place, and repairs after removal covers the rebuild side.
Owners away, house managers and closed gates
Some large properties run with someone other than the owner on site: a house manager, a landscaper on a weekly route, or a tenant. A removal can be arranged around that. Tell us who will open the gate, whether the pool and garden crews will be working that day, and who should get the paperwork.
Ask, and you get pictures from start to finish along with an invoice broken out line by line, which is handy for an owner out of town or an insurance adjuster. Associations and property managers can have a COI in hand before the crew pulls in. Owners gone for months at a stretch can start with the seasonal-home guide, and anyone mid-closing should read what to do when an inspector turns up bees.
A Pinecrest visit, from the gate to the cleanup
Gate, drive and dogs
Let us know the gate code or who will open it, where a truck can park off the street, and whether dogs, pool service or landscapers will be on the property that day.
A walk of the whole lot
The crew traces foragers back from water and flowers to the entrance, then checks the size and edges of the comb with a thermal camera before cutting into anything.
Vacuum, comb and queen
Inside the opened cavity, the crew cuts the comb into frames, draws the clustered bees into a screened box with gentle suction, watches for the queen, and hands everything to a beekeeper who will keep it going.
Clean, seal and patch
Leftover honey and wax come out so they cannot attract another swarm, the entry is sealed, and our own roofers, painters or contractors match the repair to what was there.
Matching removal work
Questions people ask us
If the oak with the hive is coming down anyway, what does Pinecrest require first?
The village's tree rules cover taking a tree down or moving it, with a short list of exemptions, and big trees get extra protection as specimens. Taking out the colony does not require taking down the tree: the cavity is opened, the comb removed and the hole closed. If you also want the tree gone, check with the village's Building and Planning Department first.
Could a colony at the far edge of an acre lot simply be left alone?
Sometimes. A colony well away from paths, the pool and the mower can be left if nobody nearby is allergic. Keep in mind that healthy colonies grow and, in spring, split off swarms of thousands of bees looking for a new home, and a soffit on your house is a likely candidate. A live removal avoids that.
Our house was rebuilt after Hurricane Andrew. Can bees still get into it?
Yes. A newer roof and walls close some of the old gaps, but bees need an opening only about the width of a pencil. Roof vents, lanai ceilings, trim and the places where pipes and wires enter are the usual entry points, and a thermal camera can show whether comb is behind the surface.
Where does the colony go once it leaves the property?
To a beekeeper, who sets it up in a managed hive where it keeps foraging. Nothing is sprayed. A poisoned hive in a Pinecrest oak or soffit would stay put as rotting comb and honey that runs in the heat, a smell and a beacon for the next swarm. See colony relocation.
We're gone half the year. Can our house manager meet the crew?
Yes. Your manager or landscaper can let the crew through the gate and point out the spot. Wherever you are, you can ask for pictures taken before, during and after, plus an invoice that lists each part of the job, so nothing about the visit is a mystery from a distance. The quote is free either way.
Places next door
Big yard, hidden hive, one call
Tell us what you are seeing and where on the property, and get a free quote. Phones are answered around the clock.
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