Swarm Removal
Free Service
A swarm of honey bees is a "baby hive" that has left the main colony. It is the natural reproduction of honey bees. While the swarms are moving from their original colony to their own location, they land on branches, fences, houses, poles, etc and gather into a ball. These are temporary landing areas and they are not looking to build a hive.
When you find a swarm, call a beekeeper immediately and they can relocate it to a hive box. Calling a beekeeper to remove the swarm ensures the bees will not be sprayed by a home owner or business. Due to deforestation, honey bees often make their way into the walls of homes. Once they have moved into a structure, a professionally trained beekeeper has to perform a cutout.
Structure Cutout
Price varies ($250-750)
Once honey bees have established themselves inside a wall, building or structure, they cannot be easily scooped up and taken away. The structure must be cut open, the comb cut out piece by piece, and the bees vacuumed up with a special gentle bee vacuum. This process must be done by a trained professional beekeeper with construction knowledge and insurance.
Inside the wall you cannot see the 100lbs of wax, honey, baby bees and food stores. A beekeeper cannot just reach inside and pull out a queen. An established colony has layers of comb to hide inside and run the queen into small nooks and crannies. There is an average of 65,000 bees in one hive mid-summer.
Honey bees will not leave the established colony for a hive box placed outside their home. This means a beekeeper cannot summon them from the wall into a bee box. Would you just pack up and leave your babies, food and house for a new one set outside? No. Neither will they!
We do not recommend killing honey bees living inside a wall and you will find most pest companies know not to do this due to the liability. That 100lbs of wax, honey and food will rot inside the wall attracting pests and critters. The death of 65,000 bees smells like a rotting dead animal and will cause a horrific stench in your home for many weeks. The rotting colony will often destroy the drywall, as well.
Tree removal
Price varies ($0-$250)
The only way to remove a colony of honey bees living INSIDE the trunk of a tree is to cut the tree or limb down. If you do not plan to cut down the tree, we cannot help you. A hollowed out tree is not safe to cut into while standing and an established honey bee hive will not just leave a tree for a new home. If a beekeeper tries to lure them out by placing a box nearby the established colony, they do not understand how honey bees work and I would not have them attempt the removal.
We have worked with numerous tree companies to safely remove sections of trees that home honey bee colonies. Please have the tree company contact us if you would like to save the bees WHILE cutting down the tree. The tree company often drops the section where the bees reside, we cut our section with the hive, then they place it on a trailer and we drive away. If the tree company cannot place the log on the trailer, we roll the log away from the work area and cut it open on site.
If you have a tree or limb that has fallen with honey bees, please take pictures of the tree (far away and up close) and send them to our number. We can usually arrive within an hour.
Cost is dependent on how much involvement we have in the process. If we are just showing up with a trailer to have a log placed in our trailer, there is no charge.
If we have to stay on site and open the log, we charge based on location and time. The average cost is $150.
Who we are...
In 2013 Ryan and Emily Mueller did their first swarm removal in Hartville, Ohio. Our love for honey bees grew and so did our desire to teach people about their importance.
Over the last nine years,Emily has taught hundreds of beekeepers all over the world. Her focus is on educating children at local schools, educational centers and holds private home-school classes for local students.
Mueller Honey Bee Rescue has helped rescue hundreds of swarms and remove many colonies from structures and buildings.
If we teach you something about bees then we are doing our job!
Follow us on Instagram @MuellerHoneyBee