Bee or Wasp Removal Cost

• Some beekeepers will remove a swarm of bees for free or for just the cost of travel to the site, if the swarm is relatively accessible and if they believe they can take home a healthy bee colony. (Beekeepers will not remove a swarm for free if it has been sprayed with pesticides, because the bees are no longer healthy.) Some beekeepers or removal companies charge $75 -$200 or more to capture and relocate a swarm. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln answers common questions about honey bee swarms.
• Honey bee hives/nests can be inside walls, ceilings, floors, hollow trees or other cavities. Removal may require cutting holes in the building in order to extract the bees and their honeycombs. It can cost $100 -$700 or more to remove a honey bee nest, depending on where it's located (including how high it is off the ground) and how many bees it contains. For example, Bee Ranger in Texas charges a flat $250 fee plus a 50-cent travel charge for first-floor bee removal, with an additional $5 charge for every foot more than 10' high.
• Because bees are so beneficial to the environment, many experts recommend live removal of a honey bee colony. However, where live removal can be difficult or impossible, pest control companies will exterminate a hive for $100 -$300 or more. For example, Bed Bug Pest Control NYC in New York estimates its average bee treatment costs $225. If exterminating bees, the honeycombs should still be removed, to avoid attracting ants, roaches or more bees to the site.
• A wasp nest may be an umbrella-shaped paper-like nest built under an eave or ledge (paper wasps); an inverted tear-drop ball attached to a tree, bush or the side of a building (hornets); or underground or in a rock wall or the wall of a building (yellow jackets). Wasp nests may need to be eliminated if they're in high-traffic areas. Paper wasp nests can be eliminated with a wasp or hornet spray sold at most grocery and hardware stores ($10 -$80). Yellow jacket nests can be eliminated with the same wasp spray or a dust such as Sevin ($5 -$15). Because hornet nests are often out of reach and contain thousands of wasps that can be aggressive when disturbed, removal is typically best handled by professionals. Do-it-yourself wasp treatments can be risky, and they should be done at night when the wasps are less active.
• Pest control companies may charge $100 -$400 or more. For example, Fort Hamilton Pest Control in Brooklyn, NY, estimates its average treatment fee for wasps or bees is $225, with a minimum charge of $275 for a nest or hive located 6' off the ground or higher.

• The first step is to identify the problem insects. Bees are full-bodied and hairy compared to wasps, which have a slender body with a narrow waist. The University of Minnesota Extension provides an overview comparing bees and wasps.
• To remove a bee swarm, a beekeeper will place a bee box under the swarm and either shake or place the queen and some of the bees into the box, which will have holes so the remaining bees can join their queen. To do a live removal from an existing hive or nest, the removal crew will cut open the wall or other cavity where the nest is located, then vacuum the bees out of the nest. The entire nest should be removed, including all the honey, to avoid attracting ants, roaches or more bees. Some bee removal companies include the cost of making repairs to the cut-open building in their bee removal costs.

• Because honey bee swarms often move suddenly, some beekeepers will charge a minimum fee of $50 -$75 or more, even if the swarm is gone when they arrive.

• If dealing with honeybees, bees-on-the-net.com provides a list by state of beekeepers who provide bee removal services, as well as a list by state of local beekeeping clubs.
• The National Pest Management Association lists tips for choosing a pest control company.And both the National Pest Management Association and the Termite Institute offer online locators to search for a local exterminator.
• Ask for (and contact) references from satisfied customers and check whether company has had any complaints with the Better Business Bureau.

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