cost of bee removal?
starga...@webtv.net
a beekeeper remove honeybees from a house?
beekeep
wrote:
>Hi, everyone in the group. Can anyone tell me the average cost to have
>a beekeeper remove honeybees from a house?
>
I charge a minimum of $250.00
beekeep
The more people I meet the more I like my bees.
Allen Dick
> >Can anyone tell me the average cost to have
> >a beekeeper remove honeybees from a house?
> >
> I charge a minimum of $250.00
With me, it depends.
First, if the bees are in a house belonging to a landowner where I have
bees, or a neighbour, and I feel in any way responsible, I don't
charge. But, then, I don't always remove them either. In fact I
almost never have had to in over a quarter century of keeping up to
4,000 hives. Most of my removals were when I was a small beekeeper and
didn't know any better.
I cannot actually think of a case where anyone decided to have the
house actually disassembled after we had a chat about how nice and
mostly harmless such bees are, etc.
I explain how we have had up to a thousand hives in our own yard at
times with honey customers and their kids coming and going -- and no
mishaps.
If they tell me they are terrified of bees, I tell them I was too as a
kid and had nightmares about wasps, but I got over it. Obviously.
If they tell me they are allergic, or their kids, I tell them that they
are nuts not to get desensitized because it is a sure thing they will
be stung out of the blue someday, somewhere when they don't have their
kit along -- and, besides, the desensitization procedure is cheap
(compared to dying) -- and there is no sense living in terror.
I also explain that needles and pills give a false sense of security.
They only give you ten extra minutes until you are dead if you don't
get to a hospital. That is if you are really that seriously allergic --
and most are not really, but who wants to find out for sure?
I also talk about the labour bill for carpentry and the potential
damage to the building and the fact that such usually die out in winter
and that if they are observant that they can just close up the hole
when they are sure the bees are all gone and the honey has been robbed
out in the spring before swarming time when the hole will likely
attract a new swarm. (I've been really wrong about this and I had one
house which threw a nice swarm every year for about ten years in early
June. Guess who got the swarms which always landed nicely at eye level
in the same tree.
If they still think they want to operate, I say I'll be glad to come
and remove the bees when the carpenters are ready and even lend them
protective gear and a smoker.
In the several cases where I have removed bees, I usually used homemade
cone escapes and it worked -- sorta. It took longer and required more
trips that initially expected. Sometimes the bees find an alternate
route.
I used a Sawzall recently to remove an entire window filled with bees,
but that was for my own entertainment. See more about that adventure
at http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/diary/Diary090100.htm#swarm and
subsequent pages.
If I weren't doing a removal out of a feeling of responsibility or
friendship, I would charge a reasonable hourly rate and mileage.
Quote the maximum it might require for setting up, checking progress
several times, taking everything away, and bringing a hive to rob the
honey stash (if this is required so that honey does not go bad or melt
in the wall), and to plug the hole(s).
People think a beekeeper gets honey and bees from the job and that this
is worth something. Some even expect to be paid for the bees or honey
recovered. So be sure to make this point clear: nothing is paid for any
bees or honey recovered, although you may offer to share the honey with
them. Usually the honey is a small quantity and handling it is a
hassel. Usually removals are at a time of year when the bees are not
really worth anything much to the beekeeper, and queens are often lost,
etc. Offer to give them to the building owner if he still thinks they
are worth something.
But above all, please remember: Beekeepers rely on the good will of the
community more than many other occupations. We must always be ready to
do public relations to protect our livelihood or hobby at all times.
Removing bees is, for the beekeeper, a public obligation, so please be
sure rates you charge are reasonable and your attitude is respectful
and accommodating if you tell the prospects you are a beekeeeper
because your actions reflect on us all.
If you tell them you are in pest control, then I don't care what you
charge.
allen
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starga...@webtv.net wrote:
> Hi, everyone in the group. Can anyone tell me the average cost to
have
> a beekeeper remove honeybees from a house?
>
the city because costs vary so much.
If you are asking because you are thinking of doing it then be sure
and read all of Allen's excellent advice. Trying to talk people out of
it has rarely worked for me, but I try. Sometimes I wonder if that is a
good idea because the untended colony might spread disease before they
finally succumb to mites.
My daughter and I started removing colonies and swarms here in NW
Florida last year. Swarms are free as a public service. We had a card
made up and gave it to police, fire departments, and pest control
people. We say a minimum of $125 and have charged between $50 and $200
depending on how difficult it is to get to the bees. We make it clear
up front that we will remove whatever we have to in order to get the
bees out (if they don't want to wait for the funnel method), but that
they will be responsible for all repairs. We use a stethoscope to
pinpoint the location so we can do as little damage to the building as
possible.
You may run into people that think the bees are valuable and you
should be paying them. If so tell them that you will be glad to buy
their bees if they will put them in a screen box with the queen in a
separate screen box inside. If you've ever bought a package of bees you
can even furnish the box for them. LOL!
But let's face it. The whole thing is a public service! There is no
way we could ever charge enough to cover the time and expense of
removing bees from buildings. But sometimes it's a challenge and fun.
And once in a great while we might even be able to start a hive with
the bees.
Sincerely,
Herb
Maverick
Inspection to got knows how much . check out his link below
http://www.beebusters.com/removal.html
Barry Birkey
>>> Can anyone tell me the average cost to have
>>> a beekeeper remove honeybees from a house?
http://beesource.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000002.html
beekeep
wrote:
>
>> >Can anyone tell me the average cost to have
>> >a beekeeper remove honeybees from a house?
>> >
I agree with most of what you say. I have done jobs for less when the
owners didn't look to well off. On the other hand I have charged as
much as $800 to do a removal. Having been a contractor for many years
I have knowlege as to how buildings are built along with knowlege of
bees and their behavior. That alone is worth something. Working two
stories in the air on an extention ladder messing with a bunch of
pissed off bees is not everyone's dream job. It is adownright dirty
nasty job at best that requires someone that will not give up until
the job is done. Most of the tools required have to be made as well.
On most jobs I haven't charged enough!
Charlie Kroeger
rafters and a 'church' ceiling on a 12 in 12 pitch roof going down both sides
of the apex at the Hill Chapel at West Texas A&M university, in Canyon, Texas.
I charged them $1200.
Besides having to tear the roof apart by removing the shakes and tar paper,
cutting through 1 X 8 pine tongue and grove (skill saw) that was the roofing
substrate and remove the hive between there and the 2X8 rafters, I had to
rebuild the roof. The college laid on a few bundles of special thick cut
cedar shakes, but the rest was up to me. I did extract about 5 gallons of
honey. I Couldn't find the queen but captured the flyers in a roof top box
with some of the old comb, and joined them with a queen rite hive later.
I charge $50 to remove common or garden bumblebee nest (at night) and charge
nothing to remove swarms or easily acquired hives of honeybees.
C.K.
ws.ni...@gmail.com
Adam Finkelstein
>It depends.. call We Save Bees. Or check out the site www.wesavebees.com
Adam
--
Adam Finkelstein
adamf7ATgmailDOTcom