Bee Control

Phoenix’s Bee Removal Service Experts

Certain species of bees can become pests in and around homes. Some species are important primarily because of their ability to inflict stings, while others may also cause structural damage as a result of their nest-building activities. That is why our bee removal services are the answer to your unwanted bee removal problem.

IMPORTANT NOTE: When Bees defend their colonies, they target furry and dark-colored objects that resemble their natural enemies e.g. bears and skunks. Therefore, pets are likely to be stung when Bees are disturbed. Animals penned or tied up near Bees are in special peril.

Your friends at WATTS Pest Prevention, leading bee exterminator in Phoenix, want to provide you with information to distinguish the various types of Bees you might be experiencing a problem with and in needs of bee removal services:

• Yellowjackets – the smallest of the common vespids typically build their nests underground
• German Yellowjackets – introduced from Europe; often nests in wall voids, attics, or crawlspaces
• Honey Bees – can become a serious pest when they establish a nest in or on a structure (i.e. small opening in an exterior wall, down a chimney, or behind some faulty exterior flashing of your home)
• Africanized Honey Bees – slightly smaller in size than the Honey Bee, your WATTS Pest Prevention technician should be consulted for certain identification if you suspect you have AH Bees.
• Carpenter Bees – bore long tunnels into preferred soft woods, within buildings including siding, eaves, wooden shakes, porch ceilings, window sills and doors; also known to nest in telephone poles, fence railings or posts, and even lawn furniture.
• Bumble Bees – nest underground in abandoned mouse burrows under piles of grass clippings or leaves, stone, logs or other such locations.

Why be concerned?
The sting of the Africanized Honey Bees are no more potent than your garden variety Honey Bee and they look pretty much the same. What makes Africanized Honey Bees more dangerous is that they are more easily provoked, quick to swarm, attack in greater numbers, and pursue their victims for greater distances. The Africanized Honey Bee colony can remain agitated longer and may attack up to a quarter of a mile away from the hive. Africanized Honey Bee colonies can be very large, and they are not particularly selective about the location of their hives. The Queen Africanized Bee can lay up to 1,500 eggs a day.

In Arizona, the Africanized Honey Bee colonies have grown; the more aggressive colonies are the ones that survived the droughts of the past few years. The summer is the peak period for Bee attacks because there is less honey, and the Bees become more protective of their hives. Although it is not a concrete number, the AMA has said that seven Africanized Honey Bee stings per pound can be lethal. Don’t forget, however, that people react to Bee stings differently. There is one documented case of a man who survived over 2,000 Bee stings. There are others who are very sensitive or allergic to Bee stings and would certainly not fare that well. Pets are also vulnerable.

Of most concern to property owners as advised by the bee exterminator is the potential structural and aesthetic damage the Bees can cause as they bore into wood, particularly if the wood is part of a home, deck, or wooden furniture. Carpenter Bees do not eat wood. Structural damage occurs as the Bees bore new tunnels or enlarge old tunnels in the same location. Occasionally, the larvae of Carpenter Bees attract vertebrate predators such as woodpeckers that compound the damage of the Carpenter Bees. If either of these situations occurs, or if the holes themselves or the stains (Bees typically defecate around their tunnels) are an unacceptable eyesore, controls are justified.

Tunnels usually consist of an entrance hole penetrating into the wood ½ to 1 inch across the grain of the wood then turning at a right angle to follow the wood grain for 6–8 inches. After tunneling is completed, the Bee will create individual cells using bits of sawdust and frass along the length of the tunnel. As the eggs hatch in midsummer, the larvae feed on the pollen provisions, mature, and emerge as adults in the fall. The Bees can then either create new holes or enlarge holes made previously in order to pass the winter within them. Carpenter Bees emerge again in April and May to repeat this cycle.

It takes a professional to make a determination between certain types of Bees. Let a WATTS Pest Prevention Phoenix bee exterminator take care of this concern for you.

Identifying Bee Infestations:

Unfortunately, the first sign of Bees may be when you, a family member, or pet is stung.

• Bee swarms are sometimes seen then settle in trees or outbuildings.
• Carpenter Bees – you will see perfectly round holes about 3/8-inch in diameter with a coarse sawdust-like substance called frass underneath the holes. You may find old holes near the newer ones. Old nests can be used year after year by the Carpenter Bee. Their holes are usually located on the underside of any wood surface including siding, soffits, overhangs, decks, fence posts, fascia boards and window frames.
• Yellowjackets – particles of earth and small stones piled up around the opening of their burrow.
• Honey Bees – if interior of house is heated, the honey/wax within walls may soften enough to melt—allowing honey to seep out and be absorbed by plaster or similar porous wall material.

In the case of all suspected Bee infestations, please allow us to handle the issue for you—most especially in the case of suspected Africanized Honey Bees! Your WATTS Pest Prevention technicians are trained on both Bee basics and the latest control techniques.

Preventing Bee Recurrence:

Your WATTS Pest Prevention technician will be involved closely with you to educate you regarding Bee Control, ensuring you are aware of what you must do to assist us with a successful plan. This will include tips that only you, as the property owner, can ensure are completed. Some things your WATTS Pest Prevention technician will do as part of our Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan.

Treating Bee Infestations:

Bee Control must be thorough and your cooperation enlisted in removing any Bee harborage. The methodology and technology vary according to the type of Bee involved. Environmentally sound Bee management incorporates numerous chemical and non-chemical tools to achieve success. Your WATTS Pest Prevention technician is licensed by the State of Arizona and has been specially trained in the safe use of all toxic products necessary to take care of your Bee Control problem. This combination of approaches is generally known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and is the approach used by WATTS Pest Prevention.