Mar 31, 2025 | Wildlife
If you’ve discovered a buzzing colony of honeybees on your property, you might be wondering what to do. Don’t worry—there’s a way to handle this situation that protects both your home and these important little pollinators! Honeybee relocation is a great solution, and local beekeepers are key to making it happen.
Honeybees are vital for pollinating plants, which helps flowers bloom and fruits and vegetables grow. But sometimes, they end up in places that aren’t ideal for homeowners. This is where beekeepers step in to relocate the colony, giving the bees a better location while ensuring your property is free of concerns.
Here’s why local beekeepers play such an important role in this process and how it benefits homeowners like you.
The Role of Local Beekeepers
Why Honeybee Relocation Matters
Honeybees play a huge role in our environment. They pollinate about one-third of the crops we eat, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and more. Without them, plants wouldn’t grow as well or produce as much food.
However, as urban areas expand and natural spaces shrink, honeybees sometimes end up building their hives in places like walls, attics, or trees near homes. Relocation protects their colonies and ensures they can continue their important work elsewhere, away from high-traffic areas or living spaces.
How Local Beekeepers Contribute
Beekeepers are experts in handling honeybee colonies. Their knowledge and care make relocation possible while keeping the bees healthy and productive. Here’s how they help:
- Giving Bees a New Home: Beekeepers often have managed spaces like bee farms or apiaries where relocated colonies can thrive. These locations are perfect for bees to continue pollinating plants and producing honey.
- Understanding Hive Behavior: Bees operate as a colony, working together to support their queen and each other. Beekeepers know how to handle them with care, ensuring the hive stays intact during the move.
- Supporting Agriculture: Relocated bees are often placed near farms or gardens, where they help pollinate crops like peaches, blueberries, and melons. This partnership strengthens local agriculture.
- Educating the Community: Many beekeepers teach people about the importance of bees and why they should be protected. Through their work, they spread awareness about how critical pollinators are to our environment.
What Happens During Relocation?
When honeybee colonies need to be relocated, local beekeepers and pest control professionals often team up. Here’s what the process looks like:
- Inspection: The hive is carefully inspected to understand its size and structure.
- Relocation: Beekeepers gently remove the hive and transport it to a better spot.
- New Home Setup: The bees are placed in a welcoming location like an apiary, where they can continue thriving.
- Monitoring: After the move, beekeepers check on the hive to ensure the bees adjust well to their new surroundings.
Benefits for Homeowners
Choosing honeybee relocation not only solves the immediate problem of a hive on your property but also helps the environment in several ways. Here’s how you benefit:
- Peace of Mind: Knowing that the hive has been expertly relocated lets you enjoy your property without worry.
- Environmental Impact: Relocated bees continue pollinating plants, contributing to healthier gardens, farms, and ecosystems.
- Local Honey: Relocated bees may eventually produce honey that supports farmers’ markets and local businesses.
- Learning Opportunity: Seeing how beekeepers work can help you better understand the importance of bees and inspire eco-friendly habits.
Why This Matters
Honeybees are facing growing challenges like habitat loss and pesticide use . The work of local beekeepers in relocating hives is crucial for supporting bee populations. Without honeybees, we risk losing countless plants that depend on them, from garden flowers to crops that feed our families.
By choosing relocation over extermination, homeowners can make a big difference. It’s a simple decision that protects the bees, your property, and the environment.
Next time a hive appears near your home, remember that local beekeepers are here to help. They’re not just moving bees—they’re protecting pollination, promoting agriculture, and contributing to a thriving planet. Together, we can all do our part to support these incredible pollinators and keep our communities blooming. If you find a hive on your property, reach out to honeybee experts to responsively relocate the bees and protect your space, all while supporting a healthier environment.
Mar 20, 2025 | Wildlife
Bees are essential to our ecosystem. They pollinate flowers, fruits, and vegetables, making them integral for Tennessee’s lush gardens and thriving agriculture. However, typical pest control practices often inadvertently harm these invaluable insects. As a Tennessee homeowner, balancing pest control with environmental responsibility is a challenge—but not an impossible one. This guide focuses on bee-friendly pest control practices that help protect these vital pollinators while keeping your home and garden pest-free.
The Importance of Bee-Friendly Pest Control
Why Protecting Bees Matters in Tennessee
Bees are not just important for the environment—they contribute directly to the economy of states like Tennessee. From pollinating crops like apples, watermelon, and pumpkins to supporting wildflower blooms that benefit local wildlife, bees play a huge role. Unfortunately, widespread pesticide use has been a key contributor to the decline of bee populations. This decline could have dire consequences for agriculture and biodiversity.
But with a few mindful changes to your pest control approach, you can support pollinator health while maintaining your home’s comfort and well-being. Read below to find out how!
- Spray Pesticides in the Early Morning or Late Evening
When using pesticides, the timing of your application is one of the most critical factors for bee protection. Bees are most active during the daytime—typically from mid-morning to late afternoon. Applying pesticides during these peak hours increases the likelihood of exposing them to harmful chemicals. To minimize the risk, consider scheduling treatments in the early morning or late evening when bees are less active.
Instead, opt to spray pesticides:
- Early morning before the sun has fully risen and bees begin foraging.
- Late evening after bees have retreated to their hives for the night.
By targeting these times, you reduce the chances of directly affecting bees while ensuring pests are still managed effectively. You can also ask your local pest control company if they can accommodate bee-friendly application times to further protect these important pollinators.
- Choose Bee-Ethical Products Labeled as Non-Toxic to Pollinators
Not all pesticides are created equal. Some are formulated to minimize harm to beneficial insects like bees. When choosing a professional pest control company, look for those explicitly labeled as “bee-protected or “non-toxic to pollinators.”
Here’s what to avoid and what to consider:
- Avoid: Broad-spectrum insecticides such as neonicotinoids, which are highly toxic to bees.
- Use:
- Natural products containing neem oil, which target pests while posing minimal risk to pollinators, are a great option. Partnering with a green pest control company that prioritizes honeybee protection ensures the use of eco-friendly solutions.
- Organic treatments like insecticidal soaps or horticultural oils, designed for ethical pest management, can effectively control pests while keeping pollinators safe.
These products allow you to take care of garden pests without risking the health of your local bee population. If in doubt, consult a pest control professional who prioritizes environmentally-friendly solutions.
- Spot-Treat Problem Areas Instead of Blanket-Spraying
Blanket-spraying your entire yard is not only unnecessary but also harmful to the environment. This approach increases pesticide exposure for non-targeted species, including bees. Instead, focus on spot-treating problem areas where pests are concentrated.
How to spot-treat effectively:
- Identify high-pest areas (e.g., near plant roots, under leaves, or by entry points into the home).
- Apply pesticides directly to these areas with precision.
- Use the smallest effective dose to control the infestation.
Spot-treating is a more targeted strategy that minimizes collateral damage to bees and other beneficial insects.
- Leave Some Flowering Plants Untouched for Bees to Forage
Bees rely on flowering plants for food, so when applying pest control measures, it’s crucial to leave a portion of your yard bee-friendly. Reserving areas of blossoming plants untouched by pesticides creates foraging zones for pollinators.
To encourage a pollinator environment:
- Plant native flowers that bloom throughout the year. Favorites in Tennessee include purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan, and bee balm.
- Designate a bee garden—a no-spray zone where pollinators can forage without interference.
- Avoid spraying flowering plants directly.
By creating these havens, you ensure that bees can continue to thrive, even while managing pests elsewhere in your yard.
Bonus Tips for Tennessee Homeowners
Incorporate Companion Planting
Companion planting involves pairing specific plants that naturally repel pests with your garden crops. For instance:
- Marigolds deter aphids and beetles.
- Lavender repels flies and moths while attracting bees.
This natural method not only reduces your need for chemical pesticides but also supports pollinator activity.
Avoid Mowing Flowering Weeds
While dandelions and clovers may be considered weeds, they’re important food sources for bees. Limiting mowing in areas where these plants grow allows pollinators to access vital nutrients, particularly in early spring.
Partner with Eco-Friendly Pest Control Services
For a sustainable pest control approach, partner with an eco-friendly company that prioritizes honeybee protection. Many services in Tennessee offer solutions that target pests while keeping pollinators unharmed. Homeowners can help by adjusting pesticide timing, choosing non-toxic treatments, and creating foraging zones. If a beehive ends up in an unwanted spot, contact our honeybee experts to responsibly rehome it.
Mar 30, 2022 | Pest Control
Due to their role in pollination, honeybees are extremely beneficial to our entire environment. This bee species contributes to the growth and reproduction of plants, where one bee can pollinate up to 1,000 flowers per day! It’s important to know what benefits these insects bring to us and how we can best protect them going forward.
Honeybees are big money makers for U.S. Agriculture, producing six hive products – honey, pollen, royal jelly, beeswax, propolis, and venom – which are all collected for various nutritional and medicinal purposes.
The production of honey from honeybees is extremely beneficial to the environment. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Service, honeybees made 157 million pounds of honey in 2019. With the cost of honey at $1.97 per pound, that’s a value of a little over $339 million. Honeybees are seen as a big contributor to the pollination of crops and contribute up to $15 billion in added crop value.
Unfortunately, a widespread bacterial disease called American foulbrood is destroying entire colonies of honeybees. The disease does not pose any risks to humans but can severely impact the bee population. An antibiotic has been created to treat colonies and prevent the spread between colonies. The antibiotic is considered a better option over burning and destroying entire hives.
Honey is not only important for the environment, but it can also be useful in our everyday lives! There are many ways to use honey. Although not scientifically proven, many people believe honey has medicinal benefits. Honey can also aid in fighting seasonal allergies, especially if the honey is produced locally.
Although honeybees are crucial for the environment, some people can be a little wary of having them near their homes. Protecting these insects is important for the environment, and it’s recommended that the first and only treatment for these bees is removing and relocating them and their hives by local beekeepers. If you notice you have a honeybee colony on your property, reach out to a local pest control company that can provide safe relocation for these insects.
