Along Fort Lauderdale's canals, from the Las Olas Isles and Rio Vista down to Harbor Beach and up through Coral Ridge, honey bees favor dock boxes, lift motor covers, cabana ceilings and the gaps under barrel tile, and every colony leaves alive. Nothing gets pried open until the thermal camera has traced the comb. The colony ends up with a beekeeper; what stays behind is an empty, cleaned cavity with its entry sealed, refinished by our own roofers and painters. Spending the season elsewhere? Sign off on each stage by text at (954) 429-5133.
This page covers the canal side of Fort Lauderdale: the finger isles off Las Olas Boulevard, Rio Vista south of the New River, Harbor Beach at the foot of the barrier island and Coral Ridge up to Oakland Park Boulevard. In-town streets and towers are on our main Fort Lauderdale page.
A canal lot offers a scout bee more dark, dry boxes than any inland street, and many of these houses sit closed for months while the comb grows.
Calls on a canal lot usually start at the water. A fiberglass dock box opened twice a season for fenders suits a colony fine, as does a lift motor cover or a cracked seawall cap with a void behind it. We work from the dock, keep comb out of the canal and time seawall openings for low tide. Bees aboard the boat fall under boat and marina bee removal.
Finger isles dredged in the 1920s on both sides of Las Olas Boulevard (Idlewyld is one of the subdivisions), so nearly every house backs onto a canal. Docks sit steps from the lanai, and a dock box colony sends foragers over the pool deck.
Nine streets north of Las Olas, dredged by W.F. Morang & Sons in the 1920s boom, with a single guarded entrance off the boulevard. Put us on the guard list first. Folded lift canopies make handy resting spots for a passing swarm.
Three streets of deep-water lots north of Las Olas, built out by Victor Nurmi after World War II, with no fixed bridges between the docks and the ocean. Big boats mean big dock gear: power pedestals, hose reels and storage chests.
Isles beside Las Olas where most housing is condos, with townhouses and a few houses mixed in. A colony here tends to sit in a shared roof, common dock or utility closet, so the association decides; boards can start with condo removal.
More than a thousand homes south of the New River between Federal Highway and the Intracoastal, developed in the 1920s boom. Big shade trees line the streets, and a swarm leaving a hollow limb tends to pick the loosest eave nearby.
Harbor Beach fills the south end of the barrier island, hemmed in by Port Everglades below, the Intracoastal to the west and open ocean to the east. Guards staff the gates and patrol the streets, and many lots sit on deep water. Plan on a manager or staff member to open the cabana and equipment room.
Sunrise Boulevard to Oakland Park Boulevard between the Intracoastal and the Middle River, with Coral Ridge Country Club Estates continuing north. Older ranch houses share streets with new two-story builds, and gable vents and sprinkler valve boxes both draw swarms.
Outdoor living is built to sit shut for weeks. Grill islands hide hollow bays behind stainless doors, plank cabana ceilings have a cavity overhead, and pump rooms pair louvered doors with warm motors. Most open with little cutting. See pool cage and equipment removal, or bees at the pool if they are only drinking.
Bees around the dock, lift or cabana?
Photograph where they fly in from a safe spot on the lawn, text the shots, and we'll reply with what the job should roughly run.
Mediterranean estates wear clay barrel tile, and a missing bird stop lets bees walk straight under the pans. Newer modern houses use standing-seam metal or flat roofs with cantilevered overhangs and wide, hollow soffits; stone cladding can hide a gap too. The tile side of the job is covered under roof and attic removal, overhangs under soffit and eave removal. Afterward our roofers relay the tile and our painters match the soffit, so nobody on the dock can spot the patch.
Many of these homes sit closed from late spring into fall, so a colony that moves in can be heavy with comb before a house manager or boat captain notices. Nobody has to fly back: tell us who holds the keys, and photos come by text at every step.
Seven Isles has a guarded entrance, Harbor Beach posts guards at its gates and Bay Colony keeps 24-hour security, so add us to the guest list. Managers get a COI through our HOA and commercial service, and the photo record helps with insurance claims.
Ground-level work, such as a swarm hanging on a dock piling you can reach or a colony inside a dock box or sprinkler valve box, typically falls in the $300 to $400 range. Barrel tile, stone cladding, a cabana ceiling or a second-floor overhang can take the total into the thousands after access, comb removal and refinishing are added up. Night and weekend emergency trips cost more. Pictures texted to us of the dock box or roofline let us put a range on it before anyone drives over, and the pricing page lays out what pushes a total up or down.
Dock boxes, lift covers and boats under canvas between trips come first on a canal lot.
Pump rooms and screen enclosures stay warm, dry and closed for weeks.
Clay barrel tile on the Mediterranean estates leaves channels bees follow under the pans.
Cantilevered overhangs on modern builds hide deep, hollow soffits.
Condo boards on Hendricks and Venice Isles handle shared roofs and common docks.
Estate managers and associations want COIs, gate access and set work windows.
Yes. A house manager, neighbor or alarm company can let us in, and photos arrive by text or email at each stage so you can approve from anywhere. Before-and-after photos and the itemized invoice can go to you, the manager or both.
It shouldn't. We ask that the lift stay powered off, then take off the cover, remove the comb and wipe the housing so leftover wax doesn't attract the next swarm. A colony aboard the boat is a separate job: see boat and marina removal.
Our roofers lift barrel tile by hand and reset the same pieces when they come off whole; cracked ones get the closest match available. On standing-seam roofs we go in through trim or ridge pieces before cutting any panel, and painters blend soffits and stucco afterward.
No. The certificate can name the owner, a holding LLC or the association, and it arrives with a written scope before the visit. Gate codes and work hours get settled with the manager in advance; condo boards may also want the condo and HOA rules guide.
Only if someone is being stung. A dock box colony stays fairly quiet until the lid opens, then pours out at once. South Florida has Africanized honey bees, so keep the lid shut and guests off that end of the dock. Even a quiet dock box job sits inside our 24-hour response guarantee, a stinging case jumps ahead of it, and both start with a call to (954) 429-5133.
Waterfront bees out alive, finishes put back
Noticed bees while closing up the house for the season? Pictures texted to (954) 429-5133 start a free, no-obligation quote you can settle from wherever you are.
Phone or text day or night. We price it, move the colony out alive, and close the gap with our own licensed contractors.
