Bee Removal
Prices from £75 +VAT
To have bees safely removed from your home or business premises call 0800 026 0308
How much does it cost to get rid of bees?
Removal of a honeybee swarm from £75 +VAT
Extraction of a honeybee nest from £600 +VAT
Removal or treatment of honeybees in a chimney and installation of bee mesh from £200 +VAT
Treatment of mason or mining bees’ nests from £90 +VAT
Guarantee
We don’t guarantee treatments for any type of bees.
- Complete eradication of mason and mining bees is not always possible but the treatment should reduce numbers significantly.
In the UK there are around 270 species of bee. 250 of these species are solitary bees such as mason and mining bees. The other species are bumblebees and honeybees which are social and live in colonies.
- Only honeybees swarm.
- Not all species of bees can sting.
- Male bees in any species can’t sting.
- Only honeybees die after stinging as their stinger is attached to their digestive tract which means when they sting their entire digestive system, muscles and nerves are pulled out.
Why do honeybees swarm?
Honeybees swarm when they’re looking to establish a new nest, usually for the reasons below.
- Part of a colony will split because of overcrowding or as a natural means of reproduction. A queen, accompanied by drones and several thousand workers, will leave the nest to find a suitable new nest site.
- A whole colony will desert their nest to find a new nest site if there is a parasite infestation, disease, or a lack of food or water locally.
A swarm is harmless and only lasts for a few days. However it contains several thousand bees and ‘hangs’ in one place for several days whilst scout bees check out possible new nest sites. Garages, sheds, chimneys, outside walls, under the eaves of roofs, under trees and bushes are all favourite locations for bees to swarm.
It’s only necessary to remove the bees if they are swarming somewhere inconvenient or dangerous for people living or working nearby. Wherever possible our technicians will collect the honeybees and rehome them with a local beekeeper.
Signs of a honeybee nest
- A colony consisting of thousands of bees is very noisy.
- An excessive number of bees coming from multiple directions.
- Bee activity around a particular part of a roof or wall.
- Stained paintwork caused by honey the bees produce. If the nest is within a roof space you may find honey seeping through your ceilings.
Bee nest extraction is only permitted if the nest is located somewhere inconvenient or dangerous for people living or working nearby, or if it’s causing damage to property.
Why use a professional company to remove bees?
- Honeybees will sting if they perceive they or their nest are under threat. This can be a dangerous situation because of the large numbers of bees in a nest or swarm.
- If an attempt to destroy a honeybee nest with insecticide has been made previously then the bees can’t be rehomed as they will contaminate other bees they come into contact with.
- Honeybees like to nest in chimneys, wall cavities, roof spaces and other areas within a property which are often difficult to access. Bee nests are often live so extraction is not a straightforward operation.
How our treatment works
Honeybee nest extraction
Honeybee nests are often live and situated within a cavity in a property which can be difficult to access so extraction of the nest is not a straightforward operation. It may involve removing tiles, soffits, brickworks, etc.
If the nest is somewhere that’s inaccessible the bees will have to be treated with insecticide which is always a last resort. If the nest is in a chimney it may require two technicians using roof ladders to carry out the work.
After the honeybees have been removed, the technician will remove the nest, debris and honey the bees have produced as this is a target for parasites. The area occupied by the nest will then be treated with a biocidal spray and sealed so it can’t be accessed by more bees in the future.
Mason and mining bee nests
Mason and mining bee nests consist of lots of holes in a wall which weakens its structure and allows rain to get in which can cause a damp problem. The technician will treat the affected areas with an insecticide. However, re-pointing crumbling mortar may be the only long-term solution to stop the bees damaging the wall further.
Products we use
The technician will state which insecticide has been used on the report they give you after they have completed the treatment. Click each product to access its safety data sheet. All insecticides are biodegradable, almost odourless, non-tainting and don’t corrode or stain.
Insecticide powder
Aftercare
Following rehoming of honeybees from a nest
After the honeybees from an accessible bee nest have been rehomed, our technician will remove the nest, debris and honey and treat the area with a biocidal spray. The area will then be proofed so it can’t be accessed by more honeybees in the future.
Following treatment of a swarm of honeybees
After a swarm has been treated, the honeybees should die out within 24-hours.
Following treatment of a honeybee nest
After a nest has been treated, the technician will seal the entrance to prevent bees from other colonies being contaminated by the insecticide. This is a legal requirement. The honeybees may remain in a hyperactive state for a few hours, but usually activity will completely cease within 7-days (cold or wet days may prolong activity).
If the nest is situated in an inaccessible place it should remain sealed so that the nest, honey and debris left behind don’t attract more bees, wasps and parasites to feed off it or it is reoccupied by other honeybees.
Facts about bees
Honeybees
Honeybees nest in colonies headed by a single fertile female, the queen, the only bee which can lay eggs. The other female bees are called worker bees. Honey and pollen are stored and larvae are reared in cells made from wax secreted by the worker bees. They also collect the pollen and nectar to feed the queen and larvae and keep the nest clear of debris. The queen lives longer than a year and colonies survive in the same place for many years.
Two attributes of honeybees that have been essential to their evolution – their clustering behaviour and their ability to cool the nest by evaporating water collected from outside. This enables the colonies to regulate the temperature within their nests irrespective of the external temperature. Honeybees are also able to communicate with each other about food sources by “dance language”.
Bumblebees
Bumblebees live in small colonies with a nest the size of half a grapefruit. The queen begins a new nest with a ball of pollen and wax into which she lays approximately 6 eggs. After the eggs hatch, the larvae eat the pollen reserve which the queen continually adds to, sealing them in with wax. Once the larvae pupates the queen spins a bright yellow cocoon of silk from which they emerge as fully grown female worker bees.
The worker bees collect pollen and nectar, allowing the queen to stay in the nest and lay more eggs. This continues throughout late spring and summer until the nest has reached full size. The queen then lays eggs destined to become next year’s queen bees as well as drones which are male bees. Once the drones have hatched they leave the nest and live independent lives, their only purpose being to mate with the young queens to ensure the survival of the species. The young queens continue to live and work in the mother colony until the autumn. After the first sharp drop in temperature the old queen, her workers and the independent drones die. Only the newly mated queens seek out a place to hibernate in safety to begin the cycle again the following spring.
Mason and mining bees
All female mason and mining bees lay eggs. They make their nests in walls by creating a hole for each egg laid in weak or old-style mortar between bricks. After laying the egg they pack the hole with pollen before sealing it. The egg hatches into a grub that feeds on the pollen and emerges the following spring as an adult.
The holes weaken the structure of the wall and allow rain to get in which can cause a damp problem.
For information about the types of bees you’re likely to see in the UK visit the BPCA website.