Honey Bee Removal

Bees in January

Throughout the Gauteng region we have noticed an increase in the amount of bees that are hiving in the roof or ceiling cavities of peoples homes.

It may seem harmless at first, but our South African honey bee (Apis Mellifera Scutellata) are industrious little creatures, they will settle and will quickly start to expand, building honeycomb and claiming the territory as their own. If this happened in secluded areas where there were no humans, children or pets it would be as nature intended it, unfortunately bees choose to make there hives all around our communities and this can be dangerous to our children and pets.

If bees have taken up residence in or around your property do not hesitate to contact us for advice on how to best deal with the safe removal of the bees for both us and them.

Bees in December

December in South Africa is probably the warmest month in the year, and the warmth and rainfall will cause plants to grow and bloom in abundance, in addition to this it is a holiday month and people will be spending a lot of time out of doors. From picnics to trips to the beach or just sitting on the patio having a lazy lunch or a cool drink.

With the garden in bloom and the abundance of sweet smelling food and drink, you will undoubtedly attract a few bees.

Don't be alarmed, they will not sting unless you do something to make them feel the need to protect themselves, and they probably haven't settled the colony in your garden. These are probably just bees out foraging that came across the appetising scent of what you were eating or drinking.

Should a bee land on your cooldrink can or anywhere near you, do NOT flap your hand at it to try and make it go away, if the bee feels threatened it may sting you as a defence. Rather allow it to sit for a few seconds and when it flies off remove or cover the items that are attracting it.

Always bear in mind that bees do not fly around looking for someone to sting, stinging causes the sting to rip out of their bodies and they die, it is the final attempt at protecting themselves or their colony.

If bees have migrated to your garden and you would like them to be removed, play it safe and have a professional do the removing. A good bee remover will not kill the bees but rather relocate them to an area where they can forage without causing alarm or distress.

Who do I call to arrange for an experienced bee remover to visit my property and remove bees

We remove unwanted bees in Johannesburg, and sometimes further afield covering most of Gauteng.

Call us now on

082 901 8649

Why do you have bees?

Find out more about bee removers

Bees seek out spaces capable of accomodating their hives, sometimes flying great distances when relocating, even forming special 'bivouacs' at temporary stop off points by linking their bodies together to create a structure around the queen. Bees swarm around a queen, building their hives to protect the queen and nurture the young she produces.
Bees are an essential part of our eco-system. These tiny and highly organised flying insects are responsible for the pollination of most of the crops modern farmers grow.
The honey they make is a miracle of nature and yet, bees often spell trouble in the urban and suburban environment.

Call us now on 082 901 8649

When that perfect spot the bees are looking for happens to be under your stairs or in the eaves of your building you are going to come into conflict with a robust species perfectly capable of defending itself and would be well advised to call in The Bee Team. Safety first, and considering the environment being the priority it is these days it makes sense to ask a beekeeper with the necessary knowledge to remove bees for you.

How does experience and safety procedures affect Bee Removal?

Taking all the necessary tools as well as the care and precautions one learns in the beekeeping trade on to a site in the South of Gauteng Province, where bee infestations are common, or to one of the large number of locations from which we have removed bees in Cape Town and Durban, to remove a hive of bees is exciting work.
Safely removing bees is challenging every single time because of the inventive nature of the honey bee. Every bee removal job is different but with a little patience, attention to detail and professionalism it is always possible to obtain a positive result and coax our pesky little friends into a new hive in which they can be transported to a safe location in a rural area.

The option of poisoning or exterminating bees is unacceptable to knowledgeable people because bee removal and relocation to a safe environment is environmentally responsible. It is a healthier option too considering the absence of the toxic chemicals used by exterminators in days gone by. Disposing of a hive of bees without bringing harm to the environment is a satisfying result in itself but the cost effectiveness of thinking like a beekeeper means that astronomical pest control bills can be avoided in the case of bee infestations by calling on the age old craft, science and art of the beekeeper.

The Bee Team is registered with the Department of Agriculture to deal with bees in the daily running of our business. We are bee removers and bee-keepers which puts us in the unique position of knowing how bees behave under various circumstances. This is why we have added public liability insurance to the value of R2 million to our existing insurance package. This does not mean we are any less safety concious than before, SAFETY is our always our first consideration when dealing with bees.

If you want to read about how NOT to remove bees, visit our How Not To Remove Bees webpage.

Why are some bees dangerous and others not?

Most bees are reluctant to sting. Sometimes there are things that people do which upsets a hive and causes them to become aggressive.
Bees in the Gauteng area are commonly known as the African bee or, as the Americans call them, the African Killer Bees. The reason that they are called killer bees is because they are so much more aggressive than the European bee.
In some cases people have been killed by a swarm of African bees when the bees have become aggressive. A man was killed by bees in Johannesburg in 2012, the story was carried by the news media.

Common reasons why bees become aggressive

• Cut Grass: Mowing grass near a bee hive is a sure way to get bees to attack. It is unclear whether it is the noise or if the lawnmower vibrates the hive in a manner which sets the bees off.
• Tree Felling and cutting hedges: Although less frequent, when bees are in a hedge, bush or tree and someone starts cutting it, they tend to get extremely angry, much more so than cutting grass. It is strongly recommended that you do not cut or chop at trees which have bees in them as it can become extremely dangerous.
• Removing honeycomb: Removing honeycomb should NEVER be tried by amateurs without adequate protective equipment. They will definitely get stung and may be attacked by the swarm which is likely to be lethal.
• Tampering with a bee hive: If you knock, move or jolt the hive in any way, then you are likely to be met by an unpleasant welcoming committee.
• Time of day: Bees are most aggressive in hot weather at around noon. Bees tend to calm down at night and are usually very docile in the morning, which is when it is easiest to handle them.
• Weather: Bees do not usually venture far when it is cold or raining and will usually huddle together in a ball of bees in their hive. A person is not likely to be stung by bees on very cold days.

Bee stings

Most people are not allergic to bee stings. For those people who are allergic to bee stings it is extremely dangerous to be stung and handling or approaching bees should be avoided at all costs. Even if you are not allergic to bee stings it is not advisable to handle more than a few bees without protective equipment. On the right is a photo of a person's hand the day after being stung by an African bee.

How to remove a bee sting

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082 901 8649

Other Bee removal services

We are based in Johannesburg but we are very much aware of the fact that places like Cape Town have an abundance of flora, all dependant on bees to pollinate them, so the chances of bees making themselves at home in a place that may prove inconvenient are quite high.

Fellow bee removal service, BeeGone are the people in the Cape to contact if need to have a bee colony removed. The will do it effectively and humanely.

Why we relocate bees

It would seem that in Britain, the allotments, spaces on which fruit and vegetable planting is done by local residents for their benefit, are indeed becoming a haven for bees. During the summer period in Britain, more bees were spotted in allotments than in parks and gardens.

This is a good indication that bees are seeking out the solitude and the freshness of the allotments. Could it also be nature rallying her troops to help pollinate gardens for food and at same time provide the bees with enough sustenance to help keep bee numbers up.

This then is a good motivator to not kill bees if a swarm settles in your garden or you discover an unwanted nest. We have all been made aware of the important role that bees play in the continued survival of mankind. If you wish to remove bees from your property an ethical bee remover will be the best person for the job. As bee removal experts we pride ourselves on removing the bees while doing them as little harm as possible and rehiving them in a place where forage is abundant, a farm or a property with abundant open space. All pretty much like keeping bees on an allotment.

The British Bee-keepers association also noted that only one in 10 hives perished during the same period in 2014 as compared to nearly a third in 2013.

Read here about how a hive building technique developed in South Africa can bebefit the bee population and beekeepers alike.

Bees in strange places

We see bees in strange places and we thought it would be informative to share this with you. Below is a list of some of the most common places that we find bees:

• In chimneys
• In schools, particularly in nursery schools
• In electrical boxes
• In water meters
• Bees in bird boxes
• In the roof or ceiling
• Behind fridges, this is no joke! Bees can get in through the airbrick
• In airbricks in walls
• In boundary walls
• In bushes
• In dog kennels
• In pool pump boxes
• In kayaks, canoes and boats
• In wine barrels, this happens more often then you would think
• Bees in a birdhouse
• Bees in trees
• Bees on a trampoline
• Other places that bees like to build hives
• Bees: Friend or Pest?
• How to safely remove bees from home
• The job of a bee keeper

What about strange bees?

There are a large number of bee species, most of which we will never get to see but there are a few that find their way into our neighbourhoods, by chance or by accident, and it's always interesting to see a bee we havent come across before. Click here to see the different bees we find as we go.

This page was last updated on 25 January 2016

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