City of Los Angeles Bee Hive Removal

Eric:  So I have Vic from All City Animal Trapping here today, and we wanted to talk about bee hive removal and specifically in the City of Los Angeles bee hive removal.  Vic how do you get rid of a bee hive? First of all.

Vic:  There’s  a lot of different ways. I mean the situation will present itself, you know the easier ones obviously.  If there’s a hive hanging from a tree that’s not too high, you know, a lot of times we can just make sure we grab all parts of the hive with the queen.  And it’s that simple.  Some of the more difficult ones are there, they’re in the wall. And that’s where it gets tough because we have to cut open the wall. A lot of people don’t want to cut open the wall. So sometimes we would use a smoker to kind of calm them first and hopefully extract them.  But we still have to get the queen out. If the queen isn’t out, then they’ll keep returning.

And that even if it’s in the wall too and we remove.  We have to make sure to remove all parts of the hive.  Cause other bees might come later and, and smell those pheromones.  Know that there’s a hive in there and try to use it just because it’s a high it’s already built. And they kind of assume that it’s safe because there was a hive before. So there’s a lot of things to be very clever, very efficient beings.

So you have to make sure, you know, everything is done right. And we’ve gone to other jobs too, to clean up a mess that someone else did as far as, as far as in the wall.  Cause half the people want to remove mainly in life. Half of them, half the people don’t really care as long as they’re gone.  But we’ve been to situations where there was a hive in the wall and they just put poison in the wall, close the hole. And then since that opening is closed on the outside, the bees have nowhere to go.  So they go inside the house and then that can be a major issue, you know, especially if there’s allergies and people are some people are definitely allergic to bees. So, I mean, it’s just it’s really it depends on what kind of bees.  If they’re regular carpenter bees or honeybees, that’s one thing.  But if they’re super aggressive and Africanized and it can be potentially really dangerous.

Remove Bees Without Killing Them

Eric:  Ok.  You said something that  is kind of curious.  Are you able to remove bees without killing them?

Vic:  Yeah absolutely. Absolutely. And like I said, half our customers want them removed humanely. Half don’t don’t care either way.  It is a little bit, it’d be a little bit more on the cost side, just because it’s usually more work and then, you know, a significant amount of more work in terms of just, and as opposed to just removing a hive.  But as long as the queen is out of there, then it’s pretty easy from then on out to solve the problem.

Eric:  You touched on this, but I wanted to ask it again. Are bees dangerous.

Vic:  Yeah, absolutely. They can be.  Like anything else if they feel like you’re messing with their home, they’re going to defend it.  If they feel like you’re messing with the queen, they will do anything to defend her.  So a lot of worker bees that’s there, they have you know, two jobs.  To pollinate, produce the honey and then protect the queen at all costs. So if you do, you can even do some research on it. I have myself obviously, but if the queen is gone or dies or something like that, then the other bees, they have nothing left to do and they usually will die.

Eric:  Oh, wow.

Vic:  It’s very interesting.  Kind of, I guess.  How loyal they are, you know, to that, and then their job in their queen.

Bee Smell

Eric:  So there smells that bees hate.  Like can repel them by laying something out that has a certain oder and they stay away?

Vic:  Yeah. I’ve some of those things, we’ve tried.  Some of those, a lot of those things and vinegar I noticed a big one.

Eric:  I’ve heard vinager

Vic:  They might, yeah, they might not like it.  But it’s nothing I would use it as a permanent solution, you know.  They might work for carpenters that are in a tree that’s in your yard. They might not work for honeybees that are in your roof, two stories.  You know what I mean? So hit or miss best and usually it’s a miss, you know, though, The vinegar will dry out and they’ll go right back to what they’re doing. Um, you know, I’m sure you’re not gonna spray a half a gallon of vinegar every day  in the same location. You know what I mean? So I mean, it, it might work, but the problem is it might not.

Eric:  Okay. So if I’m having like an emergency situation.  Let’s say, is there something that instantly kills bees?

Safely and Quickly

Vic:  Oh, they’re, they’re tough. I know that. So, if unless you have like a flyswatter or something like that, it can not, not really. I mean there’s definitely sprays and stuff. They sell it you know a local hardware store that’ll help.  They’ll definitely help. They have foggers and poisons and that kind of thing. But as far as instantly it’s pretty tough.  Cause I know certain ones don’t work like wasp poison isn’t really effective on bees and vice versa, you know? So it can, it usually makes them more angry and more aggressive and that kind of thing.  So it kind of backfires when you start to do stuff like that.

Eric:  And what happens if you block the entrance or the exit of a bees nest?

Vic:  Well, they, they need somewhere to go. You know, like I was explaining.  If they seal off the opening and the poison doesn’t quite do the trick. Then a lot of times they’ll go through the other wall.  And a lot of times the other wall is drywall that leads into your house and not let’s say the stucco that they found a small opening in.  Or made a hive in the wall. So they have to go somewhere if they’re alive and then they’ll keep working until they get through whatever that is.

Can a Bee’s Nest Damage My House?

Eric:  And if I have a bee’s nest by my house, can it damage my house?

Vic:  Yeah, absolutely. Cause you know, most of the jobs that we get I would say half at least half they’re in the wall and it could have started with a small opening and now it’s the size of a tennis ball.  If we open up the wall, sometimes there’s a four foot hive in there that you didn’t really notice until you see in a couple of bees flying around.  You know, so it can definitely cause some property damage.   We’ve taken a bee hive out from an attic that was like the size of a VW bug a few years ago.  What this thing was, this thing was gigantic and it was the biggest hive I had ever seen still to this day. Um, so yeah, if you know, it just takes a little bit and if you don’t really pay attention or don’t really notice it they can really big and no time. And next thing you know you have something like that in your attic.

So they can definitely cause damage from the honey becomes a mess. The hive was pounds of just straight honey, you know, not to mention all the bees and everything else that it comes with. So potentially, yeah, it can be, you know, sometimes it’s the size of a softball and they catch it quick enough and someone can come take it.  Sometimes it’s the size of a basketball and it happens to be inside the wall that leads into your master bedroom or something like that.

Eric:  And that’s a problem.  That’s a big problem.

Vic:  Yeah.  It can be.

Conclusion

Eric:  So also the animal trapping is a company that if someone needs a bee hive removal in the City of Los Angeles, this is something that is within your skill set and something that’s your company offers.

Vic:  Absolutely, absolutely.  Any bees, any Hornets wasps?  Yes, yes, sir.

Eric:  And how do people find you on our website www.allcityanimaltrapping.com.

Eric:  Okay, well thanks. Thanks for sharing this information.

Vic:  No problem.