Nothing in the colony is killed during a live removal: queen, brood and workers all go to a beekeeper, and no comb is left inside your Broward County wall or roof. Because a thermal camera pinpoints the nest first, the building gets opened in one spot. After the last sheet of comb is out, the hollow is scraped, its doorway sealed, and our own licensed trades patch the cut.
Signs the Colony Has Moved In
- One gap has had steady traffic for days, and returning bees carry pollen.
- A ceiling or attic hatch hums at night.
- A dark stain, sticky drip or sour smell has appeared indoors.
- Bees turn up indoors near a light fixture or return vent.
What a Live Removal Covers, Start to Finish
A cluster hanging in the open has usually built nothing yet, so that is a swarm capture. Once comb is attached inside a wall, roof or cabinet, it becomes a full hive removal: queen, capped brood and workers leave together, so the colony survives the move.
Then the comb. Every sheet comes out with its honey, the cavity is scraped, the entrance closed and the opening repaired.
Why Leftover Comb Causes the Next Problem
Honey keeps only while it stays dry, and it pulls water from humid air. Through Broward's wet season, May to October, abandoned honey thins, ferments and can seep through drywall or a painted ceiling (honey leaking through a ceiling).
Small hive beetle larvae tunnel through unguarded comb, leaving a smell beekeepers liken to decaying oranges, and scouts from the next swarm favor a cavity still holding old wax. Spraying leaves all of it, plus dead brood, so every job includes complete honeycomb cleanup.
Bees filing in and out of one crack in the stucco?
Photograph that crack with some wall around it and text it over; a likely price range comes back.
Thermal Imaging Before Anyone Cuts
A colony holds its brood nest near 95°F, and a thermal camera picks up the warm patch it leaves on stucco, drywall, soffit board or tile, so the opening lands on the comb. Sun-baked west walls blur the image in summer, so we scan them while still cool.
Entrance and nest often sit apart: bees enter at a roof edge and build down a wall, or follow a pipe upward. The scan decides between a wall opening, a roof or attic job and a soffit panel.
Where the Bees Go, and Who Closes the Hole
Rescued colonies go to beekeepers: brood comb is tied into frames, the queen rides with her workers, and the box travels to an apiary (more on relocation).
Our licensed trades rebuild stucco, relay tile and replace soffit; roofing here falls under the state code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone provisions. We can photograph each stage and itemize the invoice for an insurance claim, and certificates of insurance are ready for HOAs and managed properties.
What's Included and What Changes the Price
Part of every job
- Thermal scan to find the comb before cutting
- Nothing exterminated: queen, brood comb and foragers rehomed in an apiary
- All comb and honey removed, cavity scraped clean
- Entrance sealed against returning scouts
- The cut rebuilt and painted by our own licensed roofers, painters and contractors
What moves the price
- Colony age: a young nest or comb packing the whole cavity
- Height: ground level versus a second-story wall or tile roof
- How much has to be opened and rebuilt afterward
- Night and weekend emergency visits cost more
About $300 to $400 covers easy ground-level work: a meter or valve box, low shrubs, a swarm within reach. Second-story jobs, colonies built into walls or roofs, and anything needing repairs can run into the thousands. Your photo of the bees' doorway, texted to (954) 429-5133, gets a range back; see pricing for what pushes a job higher.
Compare job types on the pricing page.
How a Live Removal Runs
- Photos, questions, a rangeText pictures of the entrance and its surroundings, noting how long the bees have been there and how high. We reply with a likely range.
- Watch, scan and markWe trace the flight line, check for a second entrance and sweep the thermal camera across the surface. Tape outlines the nest.
- Open once, box the colonyOne opening, sized to the comb. Brood frames and clustered bees fill a ventilated hive box, and we look for the queen so she rides along.
- Clear, clean and sealComb, honey and leftover wax are cut out and bagged, the cavity scraped and wiped, and the bees' entrance closed off.
- Rebuild and finishOur trades close the opening and match texture and color. If bees reuse the sealed spot, the crew comes back.
Where These Rescues Come Up in Broward
- Fort Lauderdale
About 165 miles of waterways cross the city, so canal-side colonies never lack water.
- Weston
A master-planned city whose first Arvida homes were finished in 1984. Where an association governs exteriors, our repairs match what it approved.
- Southwest Ranches
Most lots are an acre or more, and some are small farms or horse ranches. Barn colonies come out once the animals are moved clear.
Questions About Live Bee Removal
Is live removal the same as having the bees sprayed?
No. Spraying kills the bees but leaves comb, honey and dead brood in the wall or roof, where our humidity sets it fermenting and old wax lures the next swarm. Live removal takes out the colony alive and the comb with it.
Why not seal the entrance tonight and let the colony starve in the wall?
Shutting a live doorway traps the whole colony, and trapped bees push inward, sometimes surfacing through an AC vent or a light fixture inside the house. Any that die leave brood, comb and honey to rot behind the drywall. On our jobs the doorway gets sealed last, once the cavity behind it has been emptied.
Does a defensive colony still get relocated, or is that when bees get killed?
It still gets relocated. Africanized honey bees live wild throughout South Florida, and a feral nest can seem calm right up to the moment it reacts, so the crew suits up for it on every job and keeps people and pets well back. A hot colony simply takes more care to box; it leaves alive like any other.
My bees are calm. Does this need a night callout, or can it wait for a weekday?
A quiet colony that isn't stinging anyone can usually wait for a booked weekday appointment, priced below an after-hours or Saturday and Sunday trip. Calls are picked up 24/7 either way, and every one falls under our 24-hour response guarantee; colonies that are stinging get handled first through emergency bee removal. Crews reach every city in Broward County, beachfront to the Everglades edge.
Want the colony out of your wall alive, comb and all?
Ring or message (954) 429-5133 describing the entry point and its height. Quotes cost nothing, and saying no afterward is fine.