Ocala "On Top of the World" Bee Removal

Bees infest pallets in Ocala, Fla.

Honey Bees infest a pallet in Ocala, Fla, near On Top of the World Community. We are seeing many more bee infestations in this area of Marion County, and perform bee removals here very frequently. Many times these bees are located near residential areas, but in this case we were able to perform a live honey bee relocation, only because this was far removed from humans, livestock and pets. Africanized Honey Bees are a real concern for us in Marion County now, and mean bees are becoming more common.

Please, if you encounter a bee infestation, call us at 1-800-343-5317.

Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist
The Buzzkillers, LLC
ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com

Longwood, Fla., Honey Bees in House Soffit

This picture illustrates one of the most frequent ways that Honey Bees gain access to voids located within homes and buildings:

Honey Bees in Longwood Soffit

As you can see, there is a small gap around the electric conduit leading into this house soffit, and bees have built a sizeable nest within the void. 50 cents worth of caulk would have prevented a ~$300 Longwood Bee Removal bill, and additional repair costs.

Please, spend some time and just a little bit of money,and 'beeproof' your home. Seal openings that are 1/4" in size or larger. We can perform the beeproofing as well, just give us a call at 1-800-343-5317

Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist
The Buzzkillers, LLC
ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com

Jacksonville Bee Removal from a wall

Jacksonville Bee Removal

We were called by a pest control firm to remove this massive honey bee colony from a Jacksonville Fla home.

Marion County Honey Bee Swarm on Soffit

Here's a photo of a large Ocala Honey Bee Swarm that alighted on a home soffit, just outside the kitchen window!!

Marion County Honey Bee Swarm on soffit

Most swarms can appear dangerous, with thousands of flying bees during the time when a swarm is either landing or taking off for permanent digs. In most cases, swarms are not very defensive, though I wouldn't advise spraying them or doing the teenage boy thing--throwing rocks at them!! If you just leave them alone, they will usually leave within hours.

Sometimes though, honey bee swarms will attempt to build a nest right where you see them, or try to move into voids, such as this soffit.

If you have a swarm that persists for more than a couple days, give us a call at 1-800-343-5317 for expert bee swarm removal.

Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist
ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com

Kissimmee GIANT External Honey Bee colony!

Some of the most interesting bee removals we perform are with external honey bee colonies. These used to be very rare, as the gentle European Honey bees that have been residents for over 300 years in the U.S., really prefer to build their nests within voids, such as tree holes and in building walls. However, as the Africanized Honey Bee, (AHB), has been spreading throughout Florida, we are encountering many, many more of these beautiful, but potentially deadly colonies.

Kissimmee HUGE Africanized Honey Bee Nest

This nest stretched over 4 FEET Long!, and was extremely defensive. We were hoping to perform a live removal and relocation with this nest, as it's located in a large, unpopulated ranch, however, these bees were so, so mean, that we had to eradicate them.

It makes no sense whatsoever to try to save such mean, and potentially killer bees. We have LOADS of feral honey bees in Florida and always put the safety of humans, pets and livestock above any feral bee colony. You should too.

Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist
ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com
The Buzzkillers, LLC

Oxford Fl., Africanized (?) Honey Bees in pole on Ground

This year we've had a spike in bee removal calls from near Oxford Fl., just west of The Villages, in Central Florida. What's disconcerting to me, is the proportion of these bees that exhibit Africanized Honey Bee (AHB) behaviors.

AHB, as many folks know, are a hybrid of a European subspecies of Honey Bee, and an African Honey Bee, Apis mellifera scuttelata, and has been present in Florida for probably about 10 years. These bees are moving north throughout the peninsula, and often exhibit a more defensive posture. ( in other words, they can sting the fire outta you, family and pets!).

One of the other cool behaviours, is their propensity to live near or in the ground, a place few self-respecting European Honey Bees would even consider! So, water meters are often the first in ground nesting locations that we find, and then voids, such as these poles have, are soon filled with a nest of very feisty bees!

Oxford, FL Honey Bee Nest in Pole

These were moderately defensive, and readily hassled neighbors that insisted on getting too close to the removal process. They quickly (and loudly) ran away!

Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist
ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com
1-800-343-5317

Howey-In-the-Hills Bee Swarm in an Amphora

Definitely something I don't see everyday... a honey bee swarm had decided to take up residence in this decorative Amphora:

Howey in the Hills Bee Swarm

 Amphorae were used by ancient Greeks to store and transport liquids, grains and other valuables. What's really cool is that pottery similar to amphorae were used for honey bee cultivation and shipping of the most valuable bee product, honey!

This Howey-In-The-Hills honey bee swarm decided to move into this container and was quickly removed by the ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com team. Call us for bee swarm remvoval at 1-800-343-5317

Richard Martyniak M.Sc., Entomologist

Satellite Beach: Bee Swarm in Tree

We are receiving hundreds of calls a day for a phenomenon that occurs every spring and one that we call "Swarm Season". Honey Bee queens start increasing their egglaying as nectar from spring flower blossoms are brought in by the thousands of foragers that each colony contains. Within weeks, the colony numbers can be 50,000 and that signals the colony to issue the Prime Directive: REPRODUCE!!!

And this is the product of the colony reproduction:

Satellite Beach Bee Swarm

A 'swarm' of bees, that leaves the colony and lands temporarily, on a tree, a house or just about anything else. While it may seem to most folks that these are very dangerous, in reality, a swarm of 20,000 honey bees are likely not much of a threat.... as long as you don't try to eradicate or remove them improperly. In fact, in most cases, you can secure the area from traffic, and the swarm will leave for permanent digs within a few hours!!!

Call us for proper swarm removal 1-800-343-5317

Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist
ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com

Seminole County Bee Swarm on Wall

It's springtime and we've been getting hundreds of calls a day for Bee swarms landing in folks' trees, cars and mostly, homes. These swarms of thousands of bees are largely benign-- they are not very defensive, and will move on within a few hours, negating the need for any action whatsoever. There are times however, where swarms should be removed professionally, and NOT by a beekeeper!

Honey Bee Swarm on Block Wall

Take a look at this pic.. There are thousands of bees, and they have alighted around a utility box mounted on a wall. They are actually streaming into the block wall, and are starting to build a colony within. Call us post-haste, when you find a swarm on a house wall, as the cost for proper treatment and exclusion will be less, than if you wait a month or so.

For bee swarm removal, professionally managed by a team of insured and licensed stinging insect experts, call us at 1-800-343-5317

Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist
ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com

Help! I have thousands of bees flying around my bushes!

Or Trees. Or Flowers. Or fruits & vegetables.

Every Spring, we get loads of folks calling our lines, scared outta their wits because they are seeing thousands of bees, wasps, flies and other insects flying in and around their plants, visiting flowers and not exhibiting any coordinated group activity. We are not referring to 'honey bee swarms' which are different, and can be viewed here.

When we question to get more information, we always find that the plant is flowering, and the flowers are attracting the insects!  Now to an entomologist, this is very normal, and nothing to fear, so I'm here to allay your worries. If you see these lovely insects, flying around the plant, visiting flowers, and generally not paying any attention to you, you are witnessing a natural phenonemon we call 'foraging insects'.

Honey Bee foraging on Flower

Think of it, many bees, wasps, flies and other insects are attracted to the nectar that flowers exude. In exchange for this high sugar flight fuel, the insect will inadvertently transfer some pollen between flowers, therefore helping to pollinate these plants. What could be more natural?

Though you may be intimidated by all the activity, my suggestion is to observe nature's splendor. The plant-insect relationship has taken millions of years to evolve, and it makes the world go round in one sense. In most cases the bees and wasps don't even notice that you are nearby. Once the flowers have finished providing the nectar, the activity will cease. And you've done your part in assisting nature. Coolio.

Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist

ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com  1-800-343-5317

Ocala honey bee external nest in Pine Tree

This nest is a beauty, about 15 feet high, and 7 plates wide. It looks like the colony swarmed recently, as you can see much of the comb material. In a couple weeks, it will be covered with bees once again.

Ocala Bees in Tree

Here's the problem. This nest is located adjacent to a large manufacturing facility AND a school!. Children run through this natural area, and it's a disaster just waiting to happen. So, we've removed the nest, in a manner that minimizes bee activity after the removal. Most folks practicing this art seem to cast a blind eye to the numbers of bees that will cluster in the spot of the former nest, posing quite a danger to adults and children alike, as the bees get defensive and possibly stinging anything that moves.

Hire the professionals, ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com has teams that are licensed, insured, and use a protocol developed by stinging insect entomologists, to ensure your safety. Call us at 1-800-343-5317

Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist

Apopka Bees in Bird Nest Box

We get lots of calls for honey bees that build nests in bird nesting boxes, or wildlife nesting boxes.

Apopka Bees in Nesting Box

And you know what? most of these bees are now Africanized Honey Bees (AHB), or the so called Killer Bees of notoriety. AHB prefer the smaller space that these nest boxes prefer. And we've been seeing more mean bees in the area north of Orlando, so it's important to hire a licensed, insured stinging insect expert for your Apopka Bee Removals.

Call us at 1-800-343-5317 for competent honey bee removal in Apopka or anywhere in Florida.

Richard Martyniak M.Sc., Entomologist
ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com

Kissimmee Bee Swarm in a Boat

Kissimmee Bee Swarm in a boat!

Kissimmee Bee Swarm in a Boat

The swarm alighted in the boat's battery box when it was at a St. Cloud trailer repair facility. Both St. Cloud & Kissimmee are home to vibrant populations of Africanized Honey Bees (AHB), which swarms at a much higher rate than it's European cousins, the European Honey Bee.

Swarms will land and try to setup a new colony just about anywhere, and this void in a battery box is just right for the budding colony to start. If you look closely, you can see bees flying above the opened lid of the box. We were able to perform a live removal of the swarm and hive it in one of our boxes.

If you have a Kissimee Bee Swarm, call us at 1-800-343-5317 for expert, licensed removals.

Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist ALLFloridaBeeRemoval

Winter Park Ground Bees: I have hundreds of bees flying close to the ground!

Spring is the time of year for bees and wasps to really crank up their activity, and mating is almost first on the agenda!  One of the earliest bees we start getting calls for during early spring are a group of bees we call 'ground bees'. These are several groups of bees that build nests in the ground, and are largely non-social, meaning each female digs her own burrow, provisions cells inside with pollen and nectar, and lays eggs within. The eggs hatch, the larvae eat the stored food, and develop into adults, all underground several feet, and emerge sometime the following year, or maybe in the fall

Ground Bee nest opening

Often, we will find hundreds of these burrows, while they look similar to ant mounds, these have a larger hole, and not bee activity.

These are really cool bees, and I usually can lay down amongst the hundreds that are flying at grass-top level, photographing at will, with nary a sting. So, control of these is often not needed, however, we do have treatment protocols established for folks who are sting sensitive, or for high traffic public areas where the sting risk is a concern.

Feel free to call us if you'd like more information about these wonderful pollinators.

Richard Martyniak M.Sc., Entomologist
ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com 1-800-343-5317

Gainesville Bees in a wall - a "Chert" Wall !

Here's a cool one -- Gainesville has about 150 historic homes that were built with the locally mined limestone, called "Chert", which makes for a very distinct architectural style. It also can make for a very bee-friendly wall as there are many small openings that bees can gain entrance to the wall void that exists behind the rock.

Bees in Chert limestone wall

We were called to this bee infestation after the owner was stung.. after he had tried to use gasoline and wasp spray  to kill the bee colony--- a method that has bad news all over it.

Please call us if you encounter such a bee colony, we were able to treat this colony in a manner that will allow the client to open the wall and remove the treated colony in just a few days...and save him some money in the process. And, ,more importantly, remove the sting risk to him and his neighbors. That's peace of mind!

ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com  1-800-343-5317
Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist

Orlando Honey Bee Swarm

This week, we have been getting loads of Bee Swarm calls in the Greater Orlando Area. It's always the same, late winter is very slow for us, but we try to prepare for this phenonemon we call "Swarm Season", which can start any day from Mid-February thru Early April. Bees will start swarming sometime during this period, and once they do, it's Game ON!, with us recieving hundreds of calls a day!

Orlando bee swarm

A colony of honey bees can be likened to an organism, and the prime directive of organisms is to reproduce--and that is what a swarm is!! Bee colony reproduction! An existing colony sends out maybe 20,000 workers, drones and the queen, to go find a new place to build a colony and thrive.


Usually, but not always, these swarms are relatively docile, and are transitory, meaning they will leave in a few hours. Please, don't provoke them into a stinging incident, by self treating yourself. Give us a call, and we'll help you determine if you should have us remove them. In most cases, you won't have to do a thing, but wave as they leave!


But in other cases, it's a good idea to have us remove the swarm, as we can eliminate the sting risk for you and your family, pets or customers. Please, contact us anytime at 1-800-343-5317 or http://ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com
Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist

Clermont External Honey Bee Nest

This time of year, we get loads of calls for these kind of bee nests: External comb built right in or under tree branches:

Here's what you may not realize. The probability is High that these are Africanized Honey Bees (AHB), aka "Killer Bees", and not the desired European Honey Bees that we keep in our white boxes. However, it's possible to do a live relocation to our quarantine apiary, but we have to consider the sting risk before attempting such removals.

Please, do not attempt to perform removals on these type nests as these bees can turn very mean, once one tries to attempt removal or spraying.

Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist
1-800-343-5317
http://ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com

Orlando Bee Nest Removal from a wall

This client had a full-blown honey bee colony living inside a wall, so he tried to spray SIX cans of wasp/hornet spray, and only succeeded in making 50,000 bees very, very MAD!!

Orlando Bee Hive in Wall

This picture shows how large bee comb can bee, even within walls. We are now seeing many very mean honey bees that are probably Africanized (Killer Bees) in the Orlando Area.

Call us at 1-800-343-5317 for proper honey bee treatment and removal in the state of Florida.

Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist
ALLFloridaBeeRemoval.com

Gainesville Honey Bee Swarm

Swarm season has started! We removed this small swarm of bees from a Gainesville Apartment complex this evening.