Honey Bee Control and Removal

As the Georgia summer gets hotter, we get more and more calls for honeybee control.

Honeybees are beneficial insects. Because they are vital pollinators, Georgia's agricultural economy depends on the tireless service honeybees provide to farmers.

But human health and safety come first; and honeybees can present a risk to humans when they build hives in or close to houses or other buildings, playgrounds, campsites, and other places where people live and gather. If someone accidentally gets too close to a beehive, the bees may attack. Bee stings can be fatal to people who are allergic to them.

In Georgia's bigger cities like Marietta, Columbus, Macon, Roswell, Peachtree City, and Atlanta, honeybee control can be especially important to public safety because of the increased likelihood that people will stumble across honeybee nests and trigger an attack by the entire colony.

When honeybees present a hazard to humans, livestock, or domestic animals, professional bee control is necessary. When this is the case, call us. Rid-A-Critter provides honeybee control in Atlanta and everywhere in Northern and Central Georgia.

Do You Really Have Honeybees?

Sometimes, people confuse honeybees with other stinging insects such as wasps, yellow jackets, or hornets. These insects and their treatment are very different. If you have any doubt, please contact us for a prompt, professional identification.

Honeybee Biology

Honeybees are advanced social insects whose hives may contain thousands of bees. There is one queen bee, whose jobs are to lay eggs and regulate other aspects of the hive's existence through a system of chemical messengers called pheromones.

Honeybees also have a "language" of flight movements and wing strokes. Entomologists believe that honeybees may be able to communicate fairly complex concepts such as the direction and distance to food sources and threats to the hive through their body language. This may be how bee colonies are able to attack so quickly when they feel threatened.

Honeybees often build hives inside walls, ceilings, soffits, attics, and other structural voids. Aside from the risk of bee stings, honeybee nests inside buildings can cause damage due to melting and dripping honey, which may also attract other insects and animals.

Honeybee Society

Like most insects in the order hymenoptera, honeybees have an advanced social structure with a strict division of labor.

Male bees, who number only a few hundred at most in any given hive, are called drones and have no stingers. Their job is to await the departure of new queens from the hive, if any are produced during a given season, and to mate with them to establish a new hive. If their services are not needed by the end of the season, they are expelled from the hive and die.

The vast majority of bees in a hive are sterile females called workers. Younger workers build and maintain honey combs, tend to immature bees, regulate the hive's internal temperature by flapping their wings, and feed the queen and the drones. Older workers forage for water, pollen, nectar, and other materials.

Honeybees are not very aggressive unless they feel threatened. But when that happens, watch out. Honeybees can and will attack in great numbers if they feel the hive is threatened. Bee stings are very painful and can be fatal to people who are allergic or sensitive to them. Even people who are not allergic sometimes require medical care after being stung by bees repeatedly.

Bee Control and Removal in Atlanta and North-Central Georgia

Because of the vital service they perform, honeybees shouldn't be disturbed unless they are causing a risk or a nuisance. Honeybee populations across America are under stress from not-yet-determined causes; so unless they are presenting a health or safety risk, honeybees really should be left alone.

When honey bee control is necessary, Rid-A-Critter provides bee control and bee removal services in Atlanta, Macon, Athens, Marietta, Columbus, Duluth, Roswell, and all of Northern and Central Georgia. Our bee control specialists have the training and equipment to safely remove honeybees, no matter where they are nesting.

Here are a few pictures of honeybees and some of our honeybee control and removal methods.