5 Tips to Handle a Beehive on Your Property

The discovery of a beehive on your property often inspires a sense of panic. After all, the last thing you want to worry about is a painful or life-threatening sting or getting caught in a swarm. At the first sign of bees on your property, remain calm and use these tips to remove the beehive without causing harm to you, your loved ones, or the bees.

As bees buzz from one place to another, they pollinate plants that we need for our food supply. In fact, bees pollinate the majority of fruits and vegetables that you eat. In addition, beehives are necessary for people to enjoy the sweet flavor of honey. For this reason, you'll find that it is best to avoid exterminating bees when you can choose live removal.

The majority of bees are non-aggressive, but California is home to aggressive Africanized honeybees that are often hard to tell apart from other species. You should also keep in mind that all most bees will become aggressive if they feel threatened, which is why it is best to do what you can to avoid agitating the hive until professional bee removal help arrives.

Once you have located the hive, move away from it quietly so as not to disturb the bees. Until the hive is removed, abstain from making loud noises that could agitate the colony. For instance, lawn mowers and other types of equipment that make loud sounds tend to irritate bees.

An active beehive or swarm is dangerous for people with severe allergies to the insects, and you should always assume that some people may not know that they are allergic. Make sure to warn your family members to stay away from the area of your property where the hive exists, and keep pets inside until it is removed.

Depending upon the location of the hive, you may also need to warn your neighbors that there is an active infestation. If you have people who work on your property such as gardeners or members of a lawn service crew, then notify these individuals about the hive as well.

Hives can be extensive, and colonies often contain thousands of bees. While it might be tempting to try to eliminate the hive yourself, this is often ineffective and places you at risk for serious injuries from stings. Many over-the-counter pesticides are designed for spraying on a single bee, and they will only agitate the colony.

The ideal way to address a bee infestation is through a live removal of the hive. During a live removal, professional pest technicians carefully build a scaffold that allows them to get close to the hive without disturbing it. Then, the hive is gently removed and placed into a special container for transport.

After the bees are identified as non-threatening, they can then be taken to an ideal location for release so that they can continue to provide benefits to the environment.

While the beehive is transported to a better place, your next step is to begin the process of preventing other bees from building another hive. After a live removal, the area where the hive was should be cleaned and disinfected. Then, you need to check your property for gaps or holes that need to be filled in to deter another hive from forming.

At Monterey Bay Pest Control Inc., bees are one type of pest that we prefer to remove with the utmost care. Give us a call at the first sign of a bee problem on your property so that we can use our environmentally friendly techniques to safely remove the hive.