Honey Bee Swarms and Bee Nest Removal

European Honey Bee

The European honeybee, Apis mellifera, as its name suggests, is not a native Australian animal. However, it is very important for Australian agriculture as it pollinates a large number of our crops. As such, it is considered a beneficial insect and we always try to avoid harming bees during pest control activities. We do this by using targeted insecticide applications (essentially applying products in places which do not impact bees.

Bee Swarms

Although many bee nests are kept as managed hives by apiarists (bee keepers), there are also plenty of wild bee nests. Both managed hives and wild bee nests will swarm in spring and early summer. This is a normal process and can occur for one of two reasons. Firstly, the colony has got too big for one nest. Around half the bees leave the colony with the existing queen to find a new location to nest. The remaining bees will nuture a new queens to take over the old hive. Secondly, the whole nest may decide to leave the current location, which could occur for a variety of reasons – but essentially the current location is unacceptable.

Bee nest removal

Honey bees can be very inconvenient if they nest around homes and buildings. It is not uncommon for bees to set up their nests in roof cavities or wall voids. Although bees are actually very docile, clearly their stings do hurt (even if they sting accidentally) and for those who are allergic to bees stings, it can be a life threatening situations. Their honey can also create a mess and attract other pests. So it makes sense to get rid of the bee nest as soon as possible.

In and ideal world, bee nests in and around buildings would be collected rather than destroyed. At Go Pest we certainly encourage homeowners with a bee nest to contact their local beekeeper first, to see if they can capture the nest. They may be more likely to attend to capture a swarm which hasn’t yet set up a nest, as it is relatively easy to capture. However, for bee nests that have become established in buildings, especially in wall voids, removal can be overly time consuming. In such situations, there is not choice but to destroy the nest.

How Go Pest get rid of bee nests

The type of treatment depends on the location of the nest, but generally it will involve blowing insecticide powder into the nest or into the wall void where the nest is located. Typically we will try and carry out the treatment in the late afternoon or evening when the bees are back in the nest and more docile. The nest will be eliminated in less than an hour.

If the nest is accessible we will remove the nest. However, often it is inside wall cavities and it will be necessary to get a handyman to cut open the wall and remove the nest. This is a messy, time consuming job. It is not uncommon to remove up to 100kg of honeycomb (which unfortunately you cannot eat!). It is essential the all the honey is removed and the area is cleaned, otherwise other pests will be attracted to the area. The entry point used by the bees will need to be sealed to prevent other bees entering the property in the future