Tree colonies anywhere in Broward County leave alive, and the working plan is to keep the trunk or palm in the ground. When the bees are only a swarm hanging from a branch, one visit usually clears them. Comb sealed inside a trunk or stump takes hand work: it is cut out through the bees' own hole or through dead wood, and the colony then heads to a beekeeper.
Signs a Colony Lives in Your Tree
- Bees using one knot hole, crack or pruning scar, day after day.
- Traffic between the boots of a cabbage palm, or deep in its crown.
- Pale wax comb hanging in the open from a limb.
- Bees rising from a stump, a lifted root plate or the base of a ficus.
Hollow Trunks, Stumps and Root Pockets
Most tree colonies live in decay. Rot gets in through a bad pruning cut or a torn limb, and the heartwood softens while the living shell keeps growing, leaving a dry chamber behind a small doorway. Live oaks, black olives and mahogany, common in Broward yards and swales, are where we look first.
Ficus aerial roots fuse into extra trunks, leaving gaps bees can use. Stumps left after a storm hold colonies at shin height, right where a mower runs.
Palm Boots and Comb in the Open
Cabbage palms, Florida's state tree, keep their dead leaf bases for a while, the crisscrossed stubs called boots. Bees build behind them or among dead fronds in the crown, often past ladder reach.
Our warm climate also lets some colonies hang comb straight off a limb. That is not a swarm, which is a comb-less cluster resting while scouts hunt for a home. Open comb means the colony has moved in, and it turns defensive when the branch is bumped.
Steady traffic at a knot hole, palm crown or stump?
Text two pictures, one close on the entrance and one of the whole tree, so we can judge height and access before quoting.
Keeping the Tree Standing
Felling the tree is a last resort, and in Broward, removing or moving a tree often needs a county or city permit anyway. We work through the bees' own hole, widen it only into dead wood, or take off the one dead limb holding the nest.
A palm cannot grow new wood over a wound, so a cut into a living palm trunk stays for life. When comb fills sound, living wood, any access cut is agreed with you and your arborist first.
Tree Crews, Horses and the Yard
If the tree is coming down anyway, we plan with your tree service: the nest section is cut above and below, lowered whole and opened on tarps.
On horse property in Southwest Ranches or Davie, please stable animals before we start. Tree on association grounds? See HOA and commercial bee removal; certificates of insurance are available.
What's Included and What Changes the Price
Part of every job
- Thermal camera scan to locate comb inside a trunk or stump
- Colony and brood moved alive to a beekeeper
- Every comb removed and the hollow scraped clean
- Entry plugged or screened to keep the next swarm out of the empty cavity
What moves the price
- Comb within reach versus high on a trunk or in a palm crown
- Open comb or a swarm versus comb sealed inside living wood
- Night or weekend emergency trips add to the bill
A swarm hanging off a low branch, or a small patch of open comb reachable from the ground, is short work that typically prices at roughly $300 to $400. Prices climb into the thousands when comb is sealed inside a trunk or stump, or when a palm crown means bringing in a lift. Our pricing page lays out how jobs are priced, but your own tree gets a closer range once you text a photo of the opening to (954) 429-5133.
Compare job types on the pricing page.
How a Tree Job Goes
- Photos and a first readYour photos show whether it is a swarm, open comb or a cavity colony, and how high it sits, which sets the price range.
- Scan and mark the combWe watch the traffic, scan the trunk with the thermal camera and mark the comb, so any opening goes into boots or dead wood.
- Move the colony aliveComb comes out piece by piece, brood rides in a hive box with the bees, and the colony goes to a beekeeper through our bee relocation work.
- Clean, close and tidy upLeftover wax and honey are scraped out, the entry is plugged or screened, and the ground is cleared. If bees return there, we come back.
Where Tree Colonies Turn Up in Broward
- Southwest Ranches
Most homes sit on lots of an acre or more, so shade trees, stumps and palms stand near barns, paddocks and riding trails.
- Davie
Horseback riding is common in Davie, so a colony in a shade tree or old stump can sit near a stable or paddock.
- Plantation
First named a Tree City USA in 1980, Plantation was laid out in acre lots with small fruit orchards, and Plantation Acres is a designated rural district.
Questions About Tree & Palm Bee Removal
Is that clump on a branch passing through, or living in the tree?
A clump with no comb is a swarm resting while its scouts pick a cavity, and it usually moves on within hours or a few days. Once comb is built inside a trunk or palm, the colony is home and stays put. Unsure which you have? One clear picture settles it.
Will taking bees out of a palm damage it?
Usually not, when they are in the boots or dead fronds. Lifting dead leaf bases off around the nest, without cutting the trunk, leaves a healthy palm unharmed. A dead, hollow palm is different; once the colony is out, your tree service may want it down.
My tree trimmer hit a hive. What now?
Everyone moves indoors, and nobody climbs back up to finish. Leave the fallen limb where it is, since the comb inside keeps the bees close. Call (954) 429-5133; we take the colony from the limb and trunk, then your crew finishes.
Can I keep mowing around a stump or trunk with bees in it?
Give it a wide berth until we have looked. South Florida has an established Africanized population, so a colony low on a trunk or in a stump by the driveway, swing set or paddock can sting hard once a mower or string trimmer stirs it up. Park the equipment and mark the spot.
Bees rehomed, oak or palm left standing when that is safe
Pricing a tree job costs you nothing and commits you to nothing. Text (954) 429-5133 a shot of the hole, plus one of the whole canopy or palm crown.