Jun 29, 2023 | Pest Control
Honeybees are crucial to our ecosystem as they play a vital role in pollinating crops and other plants. Without honeybees, many of our favorite fruits and vegetables would become scarce, and the cost of these products could rise considerably. There have been concerns about the honeybee population and the impact their loss can have on the environment and the economy – this is where beekeepers come in! Beekeepers play a crucial role in ensuring the survival of the bee population. Let’s discuss their importance to honeybees and our community.
What Are Beekeepers?
Beekeepers raise and manage bees to collect honey, beeswax, and other products. These bee experts help maintain healthy bee colonies by providing them with proper nutrition, shelter, and even medical care. One of the essential roles of beekeepers is to help maintain the bee population by preventing the spread of diseases that can be fatal to bees. They also play a critical role in controlling pests and predators that threaten bee colonies.
Why Are Beekeepers Important?
Beekeepers are essential in maintaining balance in the ecosystem. Since honeybees play a vital role in pollinating crops, our beekeepers help ensure that their pollination happens efficiently. By maintaining healthy bee colonies, beekeepers can ensure that the bee population can continue to thrive and that the plants that rely on them for pollination can continue to grow and produce the food that we rely on.
When Should I Call a Certified Beekeeper?
Having honeybees around our flowers and plants is always beneficial to your garden, crops, and the environment around us. Unfortunately, though, honeybees can sometimes build their colony in inconvenient places, such as our walls, eaves, and roofs. Luckily, Honeybee Relocation Services provides a safe and sustainable solution to remove and relocate these insects from our homes without harming them or damaging your home. If you’ve noticed a honeybee hive, consider contacting your local pest control company for more information on relocating these pollinators.
Apr 25, 2023 | Pest Control
Bumblebees and honeybees are both important pollinators that play a critical role in our ecosystem. However, they are different in several ways, from their physical appearance to their behavior and habitat. Let’s explore the differences between bumblebees and honeybees.
Physical Appearance
One of the most obvious differences between bumblebees and honeybees is their physical appearance. Bumblebees are larger and hairier than honeybees, with rounder bodies and more robust wings. Their bodies are covered in dense hair, which makes them look fuzzy, and they have a distinct black and yellow striped pattern.
Honeybees appear smaller and have slimmer bodies. These insects have a distinctive golden color and a more pronounced abdomen. Their wings are also narrower and more translucent than bumblebees.
Behavior
Both types of bees also differ in their behavior. Bumblebees are social insects that live in small colonies with a few hundred bees. They are active during the day and prefer to forage on flowers that are close to the ground. They are also excellent pollinators for plants that require a buzz pollination technique, such as tomatoes and blueberries.
Honeybees, on the other hand, are highly social insects that live in large colonies with tens of thousands of bees. They are active during the day and prefer to forage on flowers located higher up. They are also known for their ability to communicate with each other using a complex system of dances, which helps them find food sources.
Habitat
Honeybees and bumblebees have different habitat preferences due to their distinct nesting behaviors. Honeybees prefer to nest in cavities such as hollow trees or rock crevices; whereas bumblebees prefer to nest in underground burrows, such as abandoned rodent holes, or in above ground areas like abandoned bird nests.
If you believe you have found a honeybee or bumblebee nest on your property, give our team a call today for a safe bee relocation and removal.
Mar 31, 2023 | Pest Control
Honeybees play a vital role in our ecosystem, as they are responsible for pollinating various crops we eat daily, including fruits, vegetables, and nuts! Unfortunately, sometimes these insects will build their colonies in inconvenient places, such as inside our walls, eaves, and roofs. Luckily, there is a safe and sustainable solution when these situations happen for both our home and the bees with Honeybee Relocation Services. Learn more about honeybee relocation services and how they can support your home!
What is Honeybee Relocation Services?
Relocation services involve carefully removing honeybees and their colonies from unwanted locations and relocating them to more suitable environments for them to produce their honey and live. This service must be performed by a certified beekeeper who has the knowledge, skills, and equipment required to handle these insects safely and effectively.
What are the Benefits of Honeybee Relocation Services?
Relocation services help the preservation of honeybees. These insects are essential to our food system, making it important to continue efforts to maintain a healthy bee population! Instead of eliminating these insects, their preservation will help continue their pollination of our crops and sustain our environment.
How Does Honeybee Relocation Services Work?
A certified beekeeper will arrive at your home to inspect and locate the honeybees and other factors before removing the colony. On the day of the relocation, your beekeeper will begin accessing the colony if it’s found in walls or attics. Once the beekeeper has access, they will carefully remove the honeybees from their current location, which may involve physically removing the bees from their colony or using special tools to place them into the bee box. Once they have been safely removed, the beekeeper will transport them to a new location where a hive will be set up to provide a suitable environment for the bees to thrive!
Honeybee relocation services aim to safely remove and relocate these insects without harming them or damaging your home. If you’re interested or would like more information on Honeybee Relocation Services, reach out to your local pest control company.
Mar 3, 2023 | Pest Control
It’s a little-known fact that every good garden needs a pollinator and bee. Without the help of these friendly pollinators, there would be fewer flowers and vegetables. If you want more visits from honeybees, follow these simple tips.
Bees are interested in two things when visiting your garden:
- Nectar: loaded with sugars and a bee’s main source of energy
- Pollen: provides a balanced diet of protein and fats
An effective way to attract bees into your garden is to plant flowers that offer these two main food sources. Try to plant non-hybridized flowers in your garden, as they typically do not produce enough pollen or nectar for our helpful pollinators.
Here are some other helpful tips to keep the bees around:
- Don’t use pesticides
- Use local, native plants
- Choose a variety of colors to plant
- Have a diversity of plants flowering all season
- Plant where it’s safe for bees to visit
We hope these tips help bring the honeybees back to your garden, so they can do what they do best: pollinate! If you discover an active colony near or around your garden, then reach out to your local certified honeybee removal company to safely remove these colonies and relocate them to a safer location.
Feb 23, 2023 | Pest Control
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is a phenomenon that occurs when the majority of working bees in a colony disappear and leave behind the queen, and the rest of the colony. Hives cannot sustain without worker bees and the colony would eventually die. Fortunately, what was once thought to be a major long-term threat to bees, CCD has been reported to have dropped over the last few years.
Some of the best tell-tale signs of CCD are discovering a few dead bees around and near the colony and a lower population of a colony. Another is discovering the queen and young bees remaining with an abundance of honey and pollen reserves. Colony Collapse Disorder isn’t the only reason for a declining colony; here are some other reasons as to why a hive has died:
- Certain pesticides are harmful to bees. Most pesticides have labels that indicate if they are harmful to pollinators. You must always read instructions of a pesticide before usage.
- The bees starved to death. A true indication of this happening is if you discover bees inside their cells with their butt pointing out. This occurs mostly in the winter and a big reason is due to the weather being too cold or a beekeeper harvesting too much honey, which is why honey should be harvested in the springtime.
- The hive was impacted by a disease. Varroa mites can infiltrate a hive and spread many diseases that impact the health of the bees. Over time, if left untreated, the bees will begin to die. A telltale sign of a mite infestation is discovering a dead colony inside of a hive that’s full of honey.
The honeybee community understands how detrimental it is to discover a colony collapse no matter what the reasoning is. As a homeowner, there are some ways for you to get involved with helping the bees:
- Plant a bee garden that encourages pollination. They typically include bee-friendly plants like lavender, cosmos, bee balm, butterfly bushes, geraniums, marigolds, and so many other options.
- Support local beekeepers and organizations by purchasing honey, beeswax products like soap, lotions, and candles, and you could also donate your time to volunteering for local beekeeping societies.
- Creating a bee bath is a simple way to give back. Use a bird bath and place pebbles or rocks in shallow water to allow bees to take breaks and drink water.
If you discover a beehive on or around your property, be sure to reach out to your local certified honeybee removal company to ensure the safety of the hive and colony.
