Do beekeepers do bee removal?

Beekeepers will often want to help remove bees particularly between the months of May and June time. There is a saying:

In May the bees are worth a bale of hay,
in June they’re worth a silver spoon
and in July, well, just let them fly!

If you call a beekeeper in June you’re more likely to get some sort of response from them wanting to help. Later on, in the year and especially in the summer they’re going to be less interested because the honey flow period has finished by then.

The positives about getting a beekeeper are that it won’t cost you very much if at all. Most beekeepers don’t charge if they are moving swarms from bushes, garden walls or from easily accessible locations where they don’t have to use a ladder. If there is a charge it is usually around £100 – £200 especially if they need to cut the bees out of a wall or void space.

A beekeeper should remove a swarm free of charge because they will want the bees for their hives to increase the honey-making power that they’ve got.

Beekeepers do not like to kill bees so beekeepers are going to want to extract the bees without destroying them. This is vital from an environmental point of view. This is one of the best things about using a beekeeper. They will want to help you. They will not use insecticides or chemicals but will rather cut the bees out alive with their comb if they are in a wall space. They will then move them into an artificial hive if it’s an easy, straightforward extraction.

If you have a swarm, beekeepers are best to call and they will come over with a skep or a box to remove them in. We would recommend that you initially contact the beekeeper to see how they might be able to help and also for advice but do be aware that beekeepers are experts in beekeeping and not necessarily experts in removing bees alive from buildings.

If you have bees in a building then you need someone with experience. Beekeepers are a good first point of call, but do be careful and seek advice when it comes to extracting the bees from inside a building or void space. If you ring the British Beekeepers Association swarm collection line they will inform you that their members are not insured to carry out bee removal from building fabric.

There are also health and safety risks to consider, such as asbestos and bee stings to you and the public. Bees also get very angry when they’re being removed. Building work such as pipework, cabling, roofing, brickwork requires skilled labour. Beekeepers are not insured to deal with issues arising from health and safety or building work.

You may find a beekeeper that will come and take the bees out if you organise all the scaffolding beforehand and building works afterwards.

It can be quite tricky to find scaffolding companies who will be prepared to put scaffolding up near bees and in the correct place for the cut-out work.

We have seen cases where a scaffolding company starts erecting the scaffolding and the bees look quiet from the ground. As the scaffolding gets closer to the hive the bees get aggressive because they are protecting their honey. Generally, feral (wild) bees are more aggressive than bees kept by beekeepers. In this case, you may end up with a half-built scaffold and the company telling you to sort the bees out before they will erect it any further which is a catch 22 situation.

Then you may get the scaffolding up and ask a builder to come and remove the building fabric but they may not be interested because of the bees. If you do manage to get a builder to remove the building fabric then you will need to ensure the builder knows how to make the building watertight and also bee proof to stop the bees from returning to the same void space. Bees will attempt to return because they are drawn to the residue and smells that naturally remain for a few weeks after extraction.

It is impossible to remove the residue smell as it has permeated the brickwork. Imagine a candle rubbed onto a porous brick. The wax would absorb into the brickwork and be impossible to remove. It is difficult to find a builder who can proof properly once the bees have been removed.

In summary, a beekeeper can be called to remove bees and should do it for free if it is a swarm. However, if the job is more complicated then look to someone with more bee removal experience that includes building fabric removal and rebuilding.