Jeff Crissey
Beelogic
Member, BBB of Southeast FL
Swarm Removal
Bee Rescue & Removal
Found a swarm or an established hive on your property? Here's how to handle it the bee-friendly way — and what to know before you call a professional.
Please note: The Broward Beekeepers Association does not provide bee rescue services, and we do not endorse any specific individual or company. Whether you use a professional honeybee rescue service or an extermination service is your decision. We simply encourage saving bees whenever possible — putting re-queened feral honeybees back into agricultural production.
A swarm is a cluster of bees that has temporarily gathered out in the open — on a branch, fence, or wall — while scouting for a new home. Swarms usually move on within 1–3 days. An established hive inside a structure is a bigger job. Either way, a trained beekeeper can relocate the bees safely instead of killing them.
We strongly discourage anyone without proper insurance and state registration from attempting a live bee removal. Many feral colonies in South Florida are Africanized to some degree and are more defensive than European honey bees — they sting more readily and chase intruders farther.
Choosing a Rescue Pro
What to look for in a removal specialist
These are professionals — properly registered, insured, and experienced specialists charge a fee, just like any other contractor. Before you hire, ask:
Are you working with an individual or a company?
Are they registered with the FL Dept. of Agriculture?
Are they on the State of Florida Rescue List?
What is their background, training & experience?
Do they carry General Liability Insurance?
Do they carry Workers' Compensation Insurance?
If you allow uninsured contractors or workers on your property, you may be liable for damage they cause and responsible if they are injured. Please use due care.
BBA Rescue List
Local rescue contacts
Independent beekeepers who do live removals in our area. The BBA shares this list as a courtesy and does not endorse or guarantee any provider — please confirm insurance and state registration yourself (see the checklist above).
Leo Gosser
BBA Founder
Ilan Lechter
Bee Watch USA
Always confirm a provider is registered and insured before any work begins. Still have questions? Call the BBA at 954-284-9414.
Good to Know
5 reasons bee removals are NOT free
1
Beekeepers should be licensed and insured to do removals
Our beekeepers that do removals are licensed and insured, and that costs money. Why have insurance? Many feral bee colonies in South Florida are African-derived to some extent. Africanized bees are more defensive than European honey bees, which means they tend to sting more often and chase intruders away from the colony for longer distances. If someone is injured during the removal, then the beekeeper's insurance will handle this. Bee removals should be done by experts, who are trained and registered with the State of Florida.
2
Bees have to be removed in hives or other beekeeping equipment
When the bees are removed from your property, they must be transported in a hive box or some other beekeeping equipment, like a bee vacuum. This equipment costs money to buy, or build, and maintain. Many bee rescues require the use of a bee vacuum of some sort to make sure that all the bees are removed quickly and safely. This is another reason why you want a professional to do this job. Bees are then put into a hive setup, which at today's prices is about $300 per setup.
3
Once removed, bees are like livestock and have to be taken care of
Either on their own property or someone else's that they are managing, once the bees are removed they have to be taken care of just like any other livestock. You are calling the beekeeper to remove the bees safely for the environment and to save the bees. Well, once they are saved they still have to be managed, fed, and taken care of. This isn't free either — it takes time and an investment in equipment, bee nutrients, pest control, and management. Most beekeepers do not recoup these costs from selling honey, as there are too many cheap-grade honey knockoffs being imported from other countries these days.
4
Feral colonies must be requeened according to Florida regulations
Because feral colonies in South Florida are African-derived to different degrees, Florida regulations state that all feral colonies must be requeened. This means finding the original queen, and replacing her with a queen of gentler, European stock. Queens can only be purchased from queen breeders that have been certified by the state of Florida to raise and sell queens of known stock. This is an ongoing effort to improve our South Florida bee genetics and make our bees gentler and less Africanized. This means that every colony a beekeeper removes costs the beekeeper money to requeen.
5
Time, gas, and sweat
When someone calls for a bee removal, they need the colony removed ASAP. This means the beekeeper has to drop any other plans they may have made and come right over to take care of the bees. Some beekeepers do this for a living while others have full- or part-time jobs to work around. Many of our beekeepers live in Broward County but will drive to other counties to do removals, despite the extra time and gas involved. And lastly, there is what I call Sweat Equity. If you've lived in South Florida for any time at all, you know how hot it is. In a bee suit you can multiply that several times over — bee suits are HOT, and the beekeeper is standing in the hot sun for hours to do this job. You would not expect free services from any other professional, such as a plumber, lawn, or pool service. So expecting free services from a beekeeper is unrealistic.
Most of us do this for love of the bees, and our environment is all the richer for it. However, beekeepers don't get rich from doing removals or from keeping bees. There's an old joke: "How to make a million dollars keeping bees — start with two million dollars…" For more information on exactly what is required of beekeepers doing removals and rescues, please see the State of Florida Best Management Practices document.
Thank you for reading this article and for wanting to save the bees. As beekeepers we share your enthusiasm and concerns, and we want to do the best we can for you and for the bees. Thank you for your understanding — and for contacting us instead of a pest control company.
Are you a licensed beekeeper?
If you're insured and state-registered, consider joining the FDACS Honey Bee Removal list — and become a BBA member to learn alongside experienced keepers.