Two things decide it: the spot the bees picked and the wording of your recorded declaration. In a Florida condo, the association maintains common elements such as roofs and exterior walls, while the declaration can hand limited common elements like balconies to the owner. In a single-family HOA, the house is normally yours and the clubhouse and entry are the association's. Either way, report it to the manager in writing, with photos, and leave the opening alone.
Read your documents before anyone picks up a phone
Florida puts most community associations under one of two statutes. Condominiums run under the Condominium Act, Chapter 718 of the Florida Statutes. Neighborhoods of houses, villas and townhomes where membership comes with the deed usually fall under Chapter 720.
The statute alone won't settle a bee question. Your recorded declaration, bylaws and board rules do, so ask the manager for the maintenance section. A villa row can legally be a condominium. In a gated 55+ complex such as Century Village in Deerfield Beach, confirm which office handles your building first.
Condo buildings: unit, limited common element or common element
Chapter 718 defines common elements as everything in the condo property outside the units, and limited common elements as the share reserved for one unit or a few, as the declaration lists them. Balconies, patios, storage lockers and AC pads are frequent examples.
Common element upkeep belongs to the association unless the declaration assigns limited common element upkeep to owners, and the declaration may bill that cost only to the units using the space. Colonies tend to land in one of three spots:
- Roof, soffit or exterior wall: a common element in most buildings, so the board hires. See roof colonies and eave jobs.
- Balcony ceiling or shutter housing: often a limited common element (see the shutter guide), and the declaration decides whose bill it is.
- Behind your drywall: it hangs on where the declaration draws your unit boundary. Some stop at the inner face of the wall, leaving the cavity outside your unit, so read that wording before booking wall removal.
Need paperwork your board will accept?
Text photos; your manager gets our COI, a written scope and a price range.
HOA houses, villa rows and shared roofs
Chapter 720 defines common area as land the association owns, leases or is charged with keeping up, which typically means the guardhouse, clubhouse, entry monuments, pool deck and often the lake banks. A colony in your own soffit or garage wall is usually yours; one inside the entry sign is not.
Attached housing blurs the line, since some declarations put roofs and exterior paint on the association. Tamarac, incorporated in 1963, grew from developer Ken Behring's two-bedroom homes for older buyers, planned as maintenance-free, so owners in older sections should ask who handles exteriors now.
In Margate, the public works department maintains the city's waterways. Before booking tree removal on a canal bank, find out whether the bank is your lot, association land or the city's.
How to report bees so the board can act
Email the manager, so the date is on record, and include:
- A wide photo showing the building and unit or lot number.
- A zoomed shot of the entry gap, taken from well back.
- Whether the bees hang in a clump (usually a resting swarm, a smaller job) or stream into a crack.
- Any honey stain, wax or humming inside the unit, and any stings.
Forward that photo set by text to (954) 429-5133; the manager can have a price range from us before anyone props a ladder against the building. Watch empty units too: in Hallandale Beach, the 2020 census counted nearly a third of housing units as vacant, and a balcony nobody opens for months is where a colony grows unnoticed.
What owners should leave alone
- No spray. Wasp killer in the gap drops the guard bees, drives the rest deeper and poisons honey that will later leak.
- No caulk or foam. Bees sealed inside hunt for another exit, sometimes your AC return or a light fixture.
- No prying off stucco or a balcony ceiling. It is probably association property, and the patch can be charged to you.
- No private hire without a written yes. Some boards refuse to repay work they never approved.
When a neighbor has taken a string of stings, or a lip, tongue or throat is puffing up, dial 911; the colony can wait. Bees chasing residents along a breezeway or pool deck are our next call: phone (954) 429-5133 day or night and that job moves to the front under our 24-hour response guarantee.
Why boards lean toward live removal
Spraying kills bees at the entrance and leaves the comb. In a Broward summer that wax softens, honey seeps down the cavity and a stain appears on a ceiling weeks later, while the leftovers pull in robber bees, ants and wax moths (honey through a ceiling).
Live removal deals with the cause. A thermal camera finds the comb, we open only what reaches it, every scrap of comb comes out, and the colony goes to a beekeeper. Once the cavity is clean, the people who patch it are our own licensed contractors, roofers and painters, which leaves the board dealing with a single company on a single invoice.
Defensive colonies are the other reason. South Florida has an established Africanized honey bee population, and no board wants an owner on a ladder poking one over a pool deck.
What your manager will ask us for
Before work on common property, managers usually request:
- A certificate of insurance naming the association as holder.
- A written scope: what gets opened, how it closes and who repairs it.
- A closing packet for the board's records: thermal images of the comb, shots of the opening as found and as sealed, plus an itemized invoice.
- Elevator bookings, gate passes, truck parking and notice to neighbors.
If the only path to the comb runs through a unit, Chapter 718 gives a condo association an irrevocable right of access during reasonable hours when needed to maintain common elements or prevent damage. The manager arranges entry. See condo bee removal for towers and HOA and commercial removal for clubhouses.
Who pays, and where insurance fits
A colony in a common element is normally a common expense. One in a limited common element assigned to you may be billed to your unit. Ground-level jobs in a meter box or low hedge typically run $300 to $400 while a colony high in a wall or roof, with repairs, can run into the thousands (pricing).
Inside your unit is a separate matter. The Condominium Act makes the association's policy exclude floor, wall and ceiling coverings, electrical fixtures, appliances and built-in cabinets within a unit, so a honey-stained ceiling finish usually falls to the owner's own policy. Read our insurance notes before filing.
Common Questions
Bees are coming out of my balcony ceiling. Is that my bill or the association's?
Check how your declaration treats balconies. Many list them as limited common elements and then say who maintains them, but comb above a balcony ceiling often reaches into the slab or outer wall, and structure usually stays with the association. Send the manager photos and text us the same ones for a price range.
Can I hire you myself and ask the association to pay me back?
Get a written yes first. Some boards repay owners for urgent work; others only pay for jobs approved in advance. We can quote you directly and send the manager our insurance certificate, scope and photos, so the decision comes before anything is cut open. Either way, the quote is free.
The unit next door is empty and bees are using its balcony. What can be done?
Tell the manager in writing, with a photo. The Condominium Act lets the association get into a unit at reasonable times to protect common elements or neighboring units, so an absent owner need not stall the job. How the board uses that right is its call.
Related Services
- Condo & High-Rise Bee Removal
- HOA & Commercial Bee Removal
- Wall Bee Removal
- Honeycomb Removal & Cleanup