South Miami, incorporated 1927
South Miami bees, out of old houses, oaks and downtown storefronts
About 2.3 square miles of single-family streets, big shade trees and a walkable downtown on the Metrorail line. Here is how honey bees fit into that, and how we get them out alive.
Around South Miami
- IncorporatedJune 1927; it started out as a town
- SizeAbout 2.31 square miles
- Population12,026 at the 2020 census
- First historic districtCambridge Lawns, designated in 2005
- Main roadsSunset Drive, Red Road and U.S. 1
South Miami started as a small settlement called Larkins, after the storekeeper who became its first postmaster, and was incorporated as the Town of South Miami in June 1927. What it grew into is mostly houses. A city planning report notes that the majority of the land is zoned for single-family homes, with a compact downtown, the Hometown District, zoned for mixed use near the Metrorail station at Sunset Drive and U.S. 1. Coral Gables and the University of Miami campus sit along its east side, and Pinecrest lies to the south.
That mix matters to a swarm hunting for a home. Scout bees look for a dry, dark hollow with a small way in, and a South Miami block offers plenty: the eaves and attic vents of houses going back to the 1920s, cavities in mature yard trees, irrigation and meter boxes along the lawn edge, and the soffits and sign channels of the low-rise offices and apartments downtown. Scout bees circling one spot are the early warning. A settled colony builds comb fast, so it pays to deal with it while it is still small.
Hollows a swarm finds on a typical South Miami block
Gable vents and eaves on older houses
On an older house, a gap around a gable vent, a loose rafter tail or a split wood soffit gives bees a direct line into the attic. Soffit and eave colonies are opened from outside, then the boards go back up.
Tile roofs on Mediterranean-style homes
The curve of a barrel tile leaves a hollow channel underneath, and that is just the sort of covered pocket a swarm likes. A colony under tile is reached by lifting a few pieces, which is why a roofer belongs on the tile roof job.
Hollow limbs in big shade trees
The leafy residential stretches of Sunset Drive and the side streets off it are full of old trees, and a rotted limb or trunk cavity can hold a colony for years. Bees can usually be cut out of the hollow without taking the tree down.
Meter, valve and sprinkler boxes
Every lawn has a buried box or two, and a mower or a foot on the lid can set off a whole colony living underneath. Lift the lid only if you have to, then back away and see how boxes are cleared.
Downtown storefronts and offices
Along Sunset Drive the city's core shifts to apartments, offices and shops. Hollow sign boxes, parapets and ceiling voids over a storefront can hide a hive that shoppers only notice when bees start drifting through the door.
Bees settling into the house right now?
Two phone pictures do it: a close one of the gap and a wider one placing it on the wall or roofline. Text them and we can talk through the South Miami job before anyone drives over.
Notes on South Miami neighborhoods
Cambridge Lawns
The city's first historic district, near Miller Road and SW 63rd Avenue: 31 small Tudor and Mediterranean-style homes built in the 1920s and 1930s. Original finishes on houses this age need careful hands, and the city's Historic Preservation Board advises on alterations to designated buildings.
The Hometown District
Downtown South Miami is zoned for mixed use around the transit line. Expect tenants above and beside the bees, and a property manager who wants the work done before the lunch crowd.
West-central subdivisions near Ludlam Road
Nelson Homesites, Tranquility Estates, Linden Acres, Sunset Circle and South Side Estates are held to single-family zoning to protect nearby wellfields. Yards with trees, sheds and fences give a passing swarm plenty of places to land.
Madison Square
The city's historically Black neighborhood, home to its first church, St. John's AME, which stands on land donated in 1916. Houses and church buildings here have the same eaves, vents and wall voids a swarm looks for anywhere in town.
South of U.S. 1 and along Brewer Canal
This part of the city sits in the federally mapped 100-year floodplain, and the city's flood ordinance requires buildings there to be elevated. Where a house or porch is raised off the ground, the shaded crawlspace underneath is a spot a swarm may claim.
Keep the shade tree, lose the bees
South Miami issues its own tree removal permits, and on a shaded lot it would be a shame to fell an old oak because bees moved into it. In most cases you don't have to. The usual approach is to find the edges of the colony, open the cavity just enough to reach the comb, and lift the bees and comb out together into a hive box. The opening is then closed or screened so another swarm does not move straight back in. If the limb is already failing and an arborist says it has to come down, the colony can be taken first so the cutting crew is not working inside a cloud of bees. For the details of tree work, see palm and tree colonies, and for what happens to the bees afterward, relocation to beekeepers.
Older houses, careful openings
A house from the 1920s or 1930s, like the Tudor and Mediterranean-style homes of Cambridge Lawns, may have plaster and trim that can't be bought off the shelf. Before anything is cut, thermal imaging shows where the warm mass of the colony actually sits, so the opening is as small as the job allows. Once the comb is out, the cavity is cleaned of honey and wax, because leftover honey draws ants, roaches and new swarms. Our own licensed contractors, roofers and painters handle the patching, and on a historically designated house you should check with the city before any repair that changes the outside. See bees inside walls and repairs after removal for how the rebuilding is handled. The workmanship carries our warranty, so a seal that fails and lets a new colony in gets a return trip from us. Old wax and honey keep calling swarms long after a colony is gone; the field guide on repeat colonies goes into that.
Downtown buildings and the people around them
In the Hometown District a colony is rarely just one owner's problem. There are tenants, customers walking past, and often a landlord or manager who needs paperwork. Licensed and insured work means the owner's office can have our COI on file before anyone sets up a ladder on Sunset Drive. Work can be planned for quiet hours, though nights and weekends are billed higher than a weekday visit. Photos of the hive and an itemized invoice are available if your file needs them. For managed properties, start with HOA and commercial removal.
What a visit in South Miami looks like
Tell us the spot
A photo and the cross street help. Downtown, tell us where a truck can stop near the building and whether the entrance faces Sunset Drive.
Map the comb with heat
Plaster, tile and bark all hide comb well. Heat from the colony still shows through on a thermal scan, and bee traffic at the gap confirms the spot, so any cut lands over the comb instead of beside it.
Into a hive box, alive
Comb and bees come out by hand and by gentle vacuum into a hive box. It helps to give neighbors over the fence a heads-up so kids and pets stay inside.
Close it and clean it
The cavity is cleared of honey and wax, sealed, and repaired by our own trades. The colony leaves with us for a beekeeper's yard.
Matching removal work
Questions people ask us
What happens to bees taken out of a wall in my house?
They are boxed alive and driven to a beekeeper. Poison is never part of it, and it would backfire anyway: a sprayed colony dies inside the cavity, its comb softens and drips, and the wall is left stained, smelly and full of pests. Live removal makes the repair cleaner too.
South Miami requires a permit to remove a tree. Does that apply to bees in our oak?
Getting bees out is not the same as taking the tree down, which is what South Miami's tree removal permit covers; ask the city if you are unsure about larger cuts. If the tree is healthy, the colony can usually be taken from the hollow and the opening closed, and the tree stays where it is.
My house is in Cambridge Lawns. Can you repair the wall after?
Yes. The wall, trim and paint are put back by licensed tradespeople who work for us, not a subcontractor you have never met. Exterior alterations to a designated historic house can need city approval, with the Historic Preservation Board advising, so check with the city before any outside change is made.
I manage a building downtown. Can you work with the tenants?
Yes. We can send a COI ahead of the visit, plan the work around business hours, and provide photos and an itemized invoice for the file. A Saturday or late-night call-out costs more than the same job on a Tuesday morning. General pricing is on the cost page.
Since this morning a clump of bees has hung from our side-yard fence. Leave it, or call?
A clump in the open is usually a swarm resting while scouts choose a cavity, and many fly off on their own. On a South Miami lot the worry is what they choose: an attic vent, a wall void or the oak next door. Give it about a day. Past that, or once bees slip into the house, phone us.
Places next door
Get the bees out and keep the house intact
Quotes cost nothing. Fill in the form or phone us; the colony is rehomed with a beekeeper, never tossed in a dumpster.
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