The practice of removing bees in Florida is changing quickly. During the past few years African bees have become well established in South Florida and much of West Central Florida. Some colonies have even been established in North Florida. As a result the focus of bee removal over much of Florida has shifted dramatically toward public safety.

This change is the result of the behavior of Africanized bees. African bees are quite defensive and easily provoked. The existing honey bees, called European bees, are quite mild mannered by comparison. Although the title “killer bees” is not deserved, these bees do require a lot of respect Bee removal specialists strongly recommend learning some simple safety measures.

Africanized bees regularly take over a European hive without a fight. Queen bees typically live between 6 months and 1 year. The new queen must leave the hive to mate. If that queen mates with an African drone, the European honey bee hive can become an Africanized hive rather quickly.

In the Southwestern U.S. Africanized bees have been well established for many years. Records show that one-half of all Africanized bee attacks occur after the victim was aware of the nest. In those situations, removing the bees would be the right thing to do. If the nest had been removed when discovered, those attacks would not have happened.

Bees are an endangered species and they are needed to pollinate our food crops. Because of those facts, in the past we encouraged bee removal experts to save nests of wild bees. The situation changed when African bees began invading Florida. Beekeepers now are hesitant to keep Africanized bees.

Where Africanized bees have become established, there may be 100-200 colonies per square mile. Removing one wild bee nest does not significantly reduce the overall population of bees. State officials are NOT attempting to destroy all wild nests, or even all Africanized bees. They do recommend however, that any bees found nesting near people be removed immediately, and that all honey bee removal be performed by a state certified Pest Control Operator.

Here is what you should expect of your bee removal expert. They need to explain what nests and swarms are and how to distinguish between them. They should be able to explain in detail how they will remove the nest before they begin. To perform the removal they should wear a sting suit, a veil, and gloves. They must remove all dead bees and all honey combs. And afterwards they should talk to you about bee proofing your property.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 1:28 am and is filed under Home Improvement.