If you discovered a large ball of bees hanging from the limb of one of your property's trees, then you need professional help to safely remove the swarm.

The good news is bee swarms can easily be removed in a way that conserves the bees. Here is some information on why bees swarm, and why it is vital that you select a pest control company who will have the bees removed rather than killed:

Bee Swarm Basics

Bee hives have a single female bee known as the queen. When a hive becomes too large in size or the queen is sick, the hive will hatch a new queen bee. This queen will leave the hive after she hatches to establish her own hive.

On the way to locating a new home for her hive, queen bees will stop to rest in trees. When the queen stops, the other bees all form a ball around her to protect her. This ball of bees is called a "swarm," and is the ball of bees that you currently see in your tree.

Bees and Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)

Honey bees are currently dying in record numbers from a mysterious condition known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). For this reason, it is vital that swarms of bees be conserved rather than simply fumigated and killed.

You can help the world's bee population by ensuring that the pest control company you call removes the bees and then relays them to a beekeeper to start a new hive. 

Bee Swarm Pest Control Technique

In order to safely remove the bee swarm in your tree for conservation, the pest control company will place a hive box below the swarm. They will then hit the tree branch with a heavy mallet and the swarm of bees will fall from the tree and land in the hive box. A lid is placed on the hive box for transport to the beekeeper's apiary.

Once the bees arrive at their new home in the apiary, the beekeeper will add some wax frames into the hive and the bees will start working on making honey.

Final Thoughts

While a bee swarm is a scary sight to behold, a local pest control company can easily remove it for you. You should ask the pest control company if they will remove the bees rather than simply kill them before you decide which company to utilize to solve your problem.