Honey Bee Removal in the Macon Area

Honey bee swarm in Marietta

Honey bees are very valuable and essential insects because of their pollinating activity. The agricultural economy of Georgia (and most of the world, for that matter) depends upon the tireless work of honey bees.

Because of their importance, honey bees are treated with a great deal more respect than other insects; and that respect begins with the decision about whether to treat a honey bee problem at all. In many cases, the most responsible thing to do about a honey bee problem is to simply leave them alone.

You see, although honey bees can be fiercely aggressive toward people they believe are threatening their nests, they rarely bother anyone who isn't. So if the honey bee nest is somewhere in the woods on your land, away from human activity, probably your best bet is to just leave them alone and avoid the area immediately around their nest. They're perfectly happy to ignore people who leave them be.

One more thing we should mention is that bees who are are seen on flowers have absolutely no interest in humans. They are going about their business of collecting nectar and pollen for their colonies, and they will not bother you unless you do something that makes them think you're threatening them.

Honey Bee Biology

Honey bees are highly-developed social insects. They're distant relatives of the hornets and wasps, which many people also mistakenly call "bees." Honey bees (and all other true bees) differ from wasps and hornets in that bees make honey and beeswax, among other differences.

Honey bee colonies may number in the hundreds or thousands. They have a highly-developed division of labor and at least two ways to communicate with each other that we know of: They use chemical messengers called pheromones to communicate, and they also have a complex and elaborate language consisting of body movements and possibly different types of wing movements that produce different "buzzing."

We also know that some of the things bees talk about include the direction and distance to sources of pollen and nectar, the type and abundance of those food sources, and the presence of threats to the colony.

Honey bees have better color vision than most other insects, which helps them to find nectar-bearing flowers. They're also capable of a certain amount of learning, such as memorizing the location of flower beds and a basic map of their surroundings, which they then communicate to other members of the colony.

When Do Honey Bees Need to be Removed?

Honey bees need to be treated or removed when they present an unacceptable risk to humans or our domestic animals. Some situations that require honey bee removal include:

If the bees have built a nest inside a home, cottage, school, or other human-occupied building.
When the bees' nest is close to a place like a playground, athletic field, or marked trail that brings humans into close proximity to the nest.
Although rare, several colonies of Africanized "killer bees" have been found in Georgia. These bees are much more aggressive and defensive than domestic bees and present more of a threat to humans and domestic animals.

Another situation in which it makes sense to remove a bee colony that might not otherwise be a problem is if someone in the home or on the property is allergic to bee stings. A nest far enough away for most folks not to worry about may be too close for comfort for a person with bee sting allergies.

Honey Bee Removal in and around Macon, Georgia

Thermal Imaging Picture of a Beehive Inside a Wall

Infrared camera image of a bee hive inside a wall

Most of the honey bee problems we respond to concern bees that have built their hives and nests inside walls, ceilings, and other structural void areas of homes and other buildings. For most companies, these nests can be very hard to find because the visible entry holes may be quite a distance away from the actual nests.

Because the hives contain honey that will melt and drip all over the place once the bees are removed, we need to find the actual nest to extract the colony. Luckily for our customers, we have a variety of ways to do this with great accuracy, allowing us to remove the bees with a minimal of mess and fuss, such as infrared cameras that allow us to "see" into the walls and ceilings so we can make as small a hole as possible through which to remove the nest.

Our high-tech equipment is just one of the ways that Rid-A-Critter is revolutionizing bee removal work in the Macon area, so if you're having a problem with honey bees, please contact us for a state-of-the-art, professional solution.