Basics of Property Management: Screening Potential Tenants

3 Common Beehive Removal Myths Debunked

12 January 2015

Jesse Obrien

Beehives can be a huge threat to you, your family, pets and just about anything that gets in their way. Therefore, many homeowners find it imperative to act on their own to immediately neutralize a beehive when one becomes an issue on their property. However, this can lead to some less than desirable outcomes thanks to some common myths about beehive removal. Here are some of the more popular ones, and why they're wrong and potentially dangerous. 

Myth 1: Sealing a hole in a wall that contains bees with suffocate and kill them all. 

This myth is very dangerous, not only to the homeowner but to the home as well. This strategy does suffocate the beehive, but that suffocation does little more than melt the honey therein, which can seep into the wall and become an unsightly stain that is tough to remove. Also, once sealed, the bees can then burrow into the home, becoming an infestation, and causing a massive inconvenience at the very least. 

Myth 2: Smoke sedates bees, so a smoke bomb will cause them to leave

While the first half of this statement is true, the second half could not be further from the truth. Homeowners have burned down structures on their property using smoke bombs in a futile attempt to get rid of bees. While the smoke tactic works with honeybees in captivity, the idea begins to lose steam once the smoke is blown away from the hive and the bees simply wake up. Also, the smoke cannot be counted on to sedate the bees long enough to move or destroy a hive, and this miscalculation could very well mean a trip to the emergency room. 

Myth 3: The worst case scenario is the bees sting once and then die. 

This myth is untrue with many different types of bees, and the assumption can be deadly if dealing with a more dangerous species such as the Africanized bee, which is known for being ruthless as a colony. These types of bees, which are relatively common in the Southern United States, can sting many times, and when provoked, the entire hive will attack a threat, as opposed to European bees, where only 10% or so of the bees attack a threat at a time. 

Beehive removal is best left to the professionals at places like http://www.beeremovalnow.com, as the myths circulating around about beehives only increase the threat. However, with some knowledge about how best to deal with bees, you'll be safe in the unfortunate event of a beehive on your property. 

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