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Bees do a lot of different things. Unlike humans, before they decide on the next place to move into, they perform a rigorous househunting effort to pick the best possible place to set up their new home. Here are a few of the places we’ve been called upon to take bees away from.
When calling us, please be prepared to let us know what the bees are doing. What they are in. Or what they are on. Or what they are doing, along with what you would like to have happen. Please don’t be surprised if we need to ask you a few questions. As the pictures show, there are lots of ways bees carry out their beezness.
As can be seen by the dirt at the bottom of the picture, this colony built their hive underground, in a cavity excavated by various mammals, including packrats
An essential part of the American Bee Control process is the relocation of the “brood comb” from the bees’ original nest into a standard wooden beehive box. We have developed special processes to ensure that each phase of the brood (egg, larvae, pupae) encounter as little stress as possible. We work as hard as necessary to ensure each relocated colony will have the best possible experience as they transition into their new home.
We have many methods of relocating bees alive. The Green Bee Machine is just one of many technologies.
Bees inhabiting a backyard birdhouse
Airplane fuselage. The bees built this much honeycomb in just one night.
Bee’s eye as seen under electron microscope. Do you see the grains of pollen here and there?
Bee’s tongue, as seen under electron microscope. Called a “glossa” it is ideally suited to mopping up nectar from deep inside a flower.
Bees commonly make homes in the underground boxes that house irrigation valves or water meters. We always relocate them alive, as an intact family.
Every type of tree that grows in Southern Arizona can host a beehive, if the tree is large enough to have a hollow cavity inside.
Often a colony has the original intention of moving into the interior cavity, such as an attic. If, after arrival, they determine that the intended spot is not ideally suited, they build their home on the outside–which is never the preferred situation.
Hives split themselves, typically in the springtime. They are eager to occupy any available cavity, even high-off-the-ground
Many compost bins, if well-shaded, serve as excellent cavities for bee colonies to call home. Why? Because they are typically well-insulated, made of rigid plastic and have interior dimensions appropriate for the future needs of an energetic, new beehive.
The brown cylinder in the foreground is an 8-inch agricultural well in Cochise County, Arizona. As is often the case with cavities that are secluded, bees moved in and built their hive below ground level where the air is humid and the temperature is constantly cool. American Bee Control has developed special processes for relocating beehives from cavities that aren’t readily accessible. We never kill the bees.
Our bee yards are spread out over thousands of acres of Southern Arizona wildlands, far from the toxins of commercial agricultural crops.
Our bee yards are spread out over thousands of acres of Southern Arizona wildlands, far from the toxins of commercial agricultural crops.
Checking on young beehives.
If a cavity cannot be disassembled, like this historic chimney, the trap-out technique can be used to relocate thebeehive
We remove (relocate) bees–the whole beehive–from every place they go. We never kill the bees.
In Southern Arizona, there is almost never a week in which bees aren’t on the move, splitting their hive and colonizing a new spot.
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