Santa Barbara Bee Company
All swarms are safely removed and relocated to one of our apiaries in the Santa Barbara and Goleta area. Please contact us for your swarm removal needs in the following areas:
Goleta, Santa Barbara, Montecito
When calling please be prepared to answer the following questions:
1- How long has the swarm been present?
2- How high off the ground is the swarm (will a ladder be needed)?
3- How big is the swarm (softball, soccer ball, beach ball sized)?
4- Has it been left alone (no sprays, poisons)?
A honey bee swarm
is an example of honey bee colony reproduction in action. In the spring and into early summer, a honey bee colony, given the right circumstances, may raise new queens and divide. Most bees will stay in the old hive location, but a sizable amount of bees 
will leave with a queen in a swarm looking for a new hive location. In transit, the bees will swarm into a clustered staging area awaiting their scouts to find and then guide them to a new hive location. This swarm can be very unnerving to people unaccustomed to this behavior.
This is a natural event that happens many times throughout the year. A honey bee swarm is extra-gentle, and not something to be feared. A hive that reproduces is a good thing.
That being said, honey bee swarms can be a nuisance and often move into a new location that is inconvenient to us humans. If you suspect you have a swarm in your yard, please contact us for a safe, bee friendly removal option.
Swarm Removal
Check out more photos & stories on our..... Bee Removal Blog
All bee hives are humanely removed, collected and placed in hives in one of our apiaries in the Santa Barbara and Goleta area. Please contact us for your bee hive removal needs in the following areas:
Los Alamos, Lompoc, Santa Ynez, Buellton
Goleta, Santa Barbara, Montecito, & Carpinteria
Once the scout bees from a swarm have found a suitable location to start a new hive the entire swarm ball will move into the new space. Often times our yards and homes provide just the space in which the bees are looking. It is somewhat common to see bees in all of the areas listed below:
*Walls, sheds, roof eaves, buildings with old wood-siding, chimneys, large mailboxes, Cox cable tubes, electrical panels, irrigation boxes, compost bins, wooden barrels, stove vents, box area under water heaters, a
nd old trees!
Once the bees have moved in it is very difficult, if not impossible, to encourage them to leave on their own. It is at this time you’ll need to call in a bee removal expert for a safe, permanent, and cost effective bee removal solution.
There are several options to remove existing bee hives from within structures and other spaces.
Option 1 - A full removal, often referred to as a “Cut-out,” that will remove all bees and
honey comb entirely. Bees and comb are re-hived and placed in an existing
apiary. To do this effectively, the bee
hive spac
e must be opened up to
access the hive.
Option 2 - Bee removal only, often referred
to as a “Bait-out,” that will remove
the bees, but not the honey comb. A
“Bait” hive is placed next to the
entrance of the existing hive and the
bees are coaxed into joining the new
hive, when their existing entrance is
closed off. This type of removal is
typically done when the bee hive can
not be effectively accessed and takes
approximately 6-8 weeks to complete. When all the bees have
been removed, it is absolutely essential that the existing hive entrance is
permanently sealed so future swarms are not attracted to the honey comb that
was left in the hive.
Option 3 - Extermination of bees. The Santa Barbara Bee Company will never use this
option. We feel that this must only be considered as a last option, one that can
possibly lead to future problems... and that the benefits do not balance with the
costs of killing the bees and inputing poisons into a home environment. We feel
this is an extreme option and should only be done in extreme circumstances. It
also must be noted that this is often not a permanent solution. Many of the bee
removals we have done were done the season after an existing hive was sprayed
and the bees returned.
Bee Hive Removal
Do not exterminate bees! I can remove bees and place in a proper hive and relocate them in a local Santa Barbara orchard. Read below for additional info..... (or call/text 698-0505)
