Hive Removal

We know the thought of having a hive inside your building can be alarming and having it removed is important, no matter if it’s Bees, Hornets, or Wasps. We want to help as much as possible but often these situations can be difficult to diagnose remotely. We do our best to try to prepare and arm you with all of the information possible on our websites but as always if you need immediate help please call us anytime! We excel at removing any and all bee, hornet, and wasp hives from within almost any structure. Our Honeybee, Hornet and Wasp removal service area in North Georgia extends as far south as Alpharetta, Crabapple, Duluth, Johns Creek, Marietta, Milton, Roswell, and Suwanee then going as far north as Ball Ground, Blue Ridge, Cumming, Dahlonega, Dawsonville, Ellijay, Gainesville, and Jasper.  If you are outside of these areas just give us a call!  We want to help and will see what we can do to help you! 

During the warmer periods in Georgia, it is quite common to see more bees, wasps, and hornets flying around, this does not necessarily mean that you have a hive on your property. The best way to find out if you have a hive in your structure is to look for a flight path. This is almost like a highway in the air for the bees, wasps, or hornets. It takes a lot of work to keep a hive going, so these insects are flying in and out all the time. Another way is if you start seeing an abundance of these insects inside your home, not just one every once in a while, we are talking about five or more.

Assuming that you have evidence of a hive in your structure. It is important to remember NOT to panic. These insects are not seeking you out to do you harm, they simply found an opening in your structure and by lucky decided to call it their home as well. But it is still important to address the hive since it can continue growing thus increasing the number of bees, hornets, or wasps depending on the species of insect we are dealing with. And that is where we come in!

If the hive is inside a wall, ceiling, soffit box or any structure we have two options.  First, we have to locate the hive and determine if it makes sense to cut into or dismantle any construction material to gain access to the hive or if it is better to get pesticides deep into the hive to destroy the Queen & hive.  If we can access the hive we prefer to remove it.  If it is inaccessible then obviously we revert to pesticide treatments.  But when we do it we are in protective clothing so we can get the pesticides deep into the hive and not just spray the entrance.

WARNING!!!   More times than not if someone just sprays the entrance and does not penetrate the hive it could force the hive to go deeper into the wall and oftentimes breach into the home.   

The problem with a nest in a wall void is that the yellowjackets constantly try to expand their nest by chewing.  If they are behind sheetrock, it is easy to break through the wall. If you hear noises in the wall and suspect you have a hive, you could have an emergency in the making.  Contact us- we can help!

Here are the typical steps in the hive cut-out process:

1 – We get on protective clothing, bring our gear inside, prepare the room and attempt to locate the hive.

2 – Once we locate the hive, we determine what is the least costly way to access the hive.  When I speak in terms of less costly we consider both our time & cost of the material we need to cut into.  (i.e., it is always less expensive to cut into drywall rather than siding.)  We take into considerations that you are going to have to hire someone to repair the hole we cut so we keep that in mind while making the decision to cut.

3 – We access the hive, containing all of the insects during the process to remove the Queen & hive.  You do not want to leave it in the wall if removal is an option.  It will attract ants, roaches and rats – all kinds of unwanted pests.

4 – We tape up the hole temporarily and discuss options like spraying the cavity or the entrance outside & caulking or excluding the entry point so no further hornets can enter.

5 – We clean-up our mess & leave.

What to expect after a hive cutout (removal) service

THIS IS IMPORTANT INFO! With all hives, there are hunters out during the day.  When we get to the hive we try to contain all of the insects and remove them.  After our work is done, unless the outside was excluded so no more insects can get to the hive, then some may return.

If they hunters create a second or additional entrance into the wall void they may start to build paper again.  But understand that 99% of the time we get the Queen so there aren’t any pupae in the hive. It is normally just an empty comb.  If we have to come back out there are fees associated with the second trip as well.  Just know this is a rare situation but we love transparency and now you know the “what-if”.