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Honeybee and Yellow Jacket issues

DAVIE, Florida

     Apian Sting Operation and its parent company, Appalachian Spring Bee Services, have been in business for over 40 years. We were pioneers in the establishment of bee problem resolutions statewide. Today, The Sting Operation maintains a highly skilled team of beekeepers, trained and certified     to settle beehive or wasp problems wherever they may occur, in Florida.

Broward County has developed into a thickly-populated urban area. This region remains highly concentrated with commercial beehives, especially during the fall, when the Brazilian Pepper Trees bloom profusely.

    Today, many citizens fear the presence of beehives near their homes and businesses. Apian understands these concerns but also wishes to emphasize the importance that honeybees play in keeping our environment in balance. Honeybee pollination ensures us of an abundance of produce and feed for animals, etc. Our quest is to remove wild bees from areas of concern and to encourage best apiary management practices to protect both humans and bees. Bee Removal has been an enjoyable pursuit since 1963. The author, pictured below, transferred  his first honeybee colony at age 18.  

    As A young Man, the author enjoyed walking down the worn path which led into the woods. The crystalline creek tumbled among the boulder rocks in the days of riding rope swings and digging one’s feet into the cool sand of A stream. In spring time, Redbuds and Dogwoods swayed in the bracing breeze. Each Fall, A blaze of red and gold filled the forest as fallen leaves crunched beneath one’s steps. In Winter, among billowing clouds, squawking flocks of geese headed south to Florida and beyond.

    It was A colorful Indian Summer Day when Honeybees were discovered high up in an old hickory tree. There was urgency in their activity. Although the roadsides and meadows were abloom with asters and goldenrods, these last vestiges,  of the floral season, were fading.

    A flood of excitement entered when it was suggested that the tree be cut down. Soon, the old hickory began to lean as several young men took turns with a cross-cut saw. After cutting half-way through, the large tree splintered and ejected the bee’s nest onto the ground. Thousands of befuddled stinging insects prompted A speedy exit toward home.

    At dawn, the following day, A timid return was made to the site. The bees had licked themselves clean and were clustered on a fallen branch. The swarm was placed in A gunny sack and transferred to A wooden box.

    Before Winter took hold, the bee colony workers were closely observed. Their membranous wings glinted in the sunlight as they departed and returned, in the forest clearing, where they were placed.

     Each interaction, with Planet Earth, creates a sense of awe for the natural world. Every sunrise is a wake-up to the call of adventure and each sunset presents reflective moments of one’s interesting discoveries .  RFM

Soffits are popular harborages for bees. The soffit should be taken apart and the bees and honey removed. Apian advises that screen be placed in the void to prevent reinfestation.

Bees often build honeycombs in water meters, transfer cases, and other tubular or rectangular shaped units. In these situations, the covers must be removed in order to clean the honey from wiring and other fixtures. LIVE BEE

REMOVAL is possible when the colony can be fully exposed.

 A small number of individuals experience anaphylactic shock, if stung 

by A bee or wasp. If you are sensitive to bee stings, check with your local Pharmacy on the advisability of carrying a bee sting emergency kit.

Bees are attracted to wooden boxes, including bird houses. Bees will often evict squirrels, owls, ducks, and other occupants from these structures. Live Bee Removal is accomplished by placing a ventilated bag over the unit and relocating the bees to an apiary.

Exposed honeybee colonies are becoming common. The height determines how the bees can be removed. Those above 30 feet are, most often, accessed with the assistance of A lift. If the bees can be safely cut down, they can be transferred to A standard bee hive.

Yellow jackets are members of the hornet family (Vespula). Although adults sip sweet liquids; (you may have seen them enter your soft drink container);  they do not store surpluses of honey nor produce wax or royal jelly. Instead, they harvest flesh and other insects which they masticate and feed to their brood. The eggs, larvae, and pupae are completely dependent upon the adults for nurturing, climate control, and colony defense.

The sting of a yellow Jacket is more painful and irritates longer than that of a bee. Many venom-induced deaths are the result of multiple stings from these defensive insects. You had better run fast if you wander into one of their nests.

Yellow Jackets have a wide range of habitats. Apian has observed nests as large as compact cars beneath modular homes, fashioned around palm trees, hiding among pampas grass, burrowing in fern beds, wrapping themselves in old rolls of carpet, enveloping their nests in wall voids, hanging from cypress limbs, and in open areas as subterranean colonies.

Our team has made several attempts to transfer colonies of Vespids without success. Vespids (yellow jackets, hornets, paper wasps, and mason wasps) do not appear to adapt to new locations like bees do. Exceptionally, the bald-faced hornet relocates nicely. Apian has often transferred entire nests while observing very little break in their foraging or reproductive behaviors. Following relocation, the hornets will be ill for about a week. They will chase after anything or anyone that approaches them during this attitude adjustment period.

Most Vespids, as well as bumblebees, diminish in the late fall to only the gravid (reproductively viable) females. These individuals seek a protected resting place to await a new spring and a biogenesis of their species. The over-wintered females forage, construct a nest, and lay their first eggs. When the emerged new adults reach foraging development, the queens dedicate their activities to egg-laying.

The yellow jacket colonies grow throughout the spring and summer. Whereas, colonies may be small and hardly noticed in March; by June, their numbers will have greatly expanded. They can readily be spotted as their membranous wings glint in the sunlight with thousands of scurrying insects entering and departing their nest sites.

Our bee removal Adventure finale was extraordinary. A construction company was building a magnificent home overlooking the beach. A huge yellow Jacket nest was wrapped around a Palm Tree in the back of the property. The foreman wanted the Apian Team to remove this hazard immediately. During the slower winter season, we had engineered several helpful devices for use in such situations as this. We attached an air sprayer to an extension pole. Using an auxiliary hose and hand-held trigger valve, the team delivered atomized Resmethrin into the ports of the nest. Soon, the insects began to drop and squirm upon the sandy beach. Next, we assembled a claw-like attachment onto the extension pole. With this implement, we pulled the nest away from the trunk of the palm tree. We treated the remaining insects with pyrethroid dust. This was one of the largest aerial nests that we handled this . You may rest assured; the team was dressed in protective wear for this procedure.

     Large yellow Jacket nests are too dangerous for attempted eradication by a novice. Call the pros in these cases. Don’t risk unnecessary serious injury.

The western sky took on A fiery glow beyond the Bluff;

As the twilighted evening faded into sunset over the Gulf.

Our endorphin minds flooded with mirth and joy reflected;

Upon hives filled with bees and the honey they collected.

RAYMOND MILLS-BEKEEPER  BS SCIENCE ED   FLORIDABEEREMOVAL.COM / APIAN SERVICES