If you have a honey bee emergency in Clayton, Allamakee, Fayette, Winneshiek, Crawford, or surrounding counties please call and text (with photo if possible) immediately at (319) 830-8632.
If you are further away feel free to contact me anyways, and I will do my best to put you in contact with an individual that can help. If I do not answer please leave me a voice message and send a text as well. I am always on call but my work takes me to isolated places and I do not always have service. I will call you back ASAP.
Servicing Decorah, Dubuque, Prairie du Chien, Guttenberg, Waukon, Manchester, West Union, and surrounding areas
When a healthy bee colony starts growing beyond the size of its hive, whether it be a bee keepers box or a hollow tree, it decides to swarm. In this process a series of new queens are created, and the old queen abandons the established colony with half of the workers. This act ensures the new queen can have a good shot at surviving our Iowa winter.
Swarms of bees are an intimidating sight, but are exceptionally docile. They are well fed on honey, and most concerned with finding a good place to live. They are nothing to be feared. If so desired, they can even be worked without protective gear, or even shoes!
These bees send out scouts to find a suitable cavity to colonize. If on their way to their new home they are sighted, a beekeeper often gets a phone call to pick them up, like in the video below.
Sometimes these bees go unnoticed and end up finding a hollow tree to reside in, other times they find a hole in a building or residential home, and set up shop in the walls or beneath the floor. In this case people may wish to have them removed.
These colonies can be extensive, and often go unnoticed for years. Some are even seen as welcomed roommates until the roof needs to be re-done, and then someone like me gets a call to remove them.
Either way swarming is a beautiful method of reproduction and a sight to see.
I am always interested in picking up a swarm, seeing a bee tree, or setting up a trap at a location where you have seen a swarm in the past. Swarming bees are often resilient bees and I would love to add their genetics to my apiary. Please contact me if you think you know of any wild colonies and would like to learn more.
I am not in the business of removing bees from places where they are causing no trouble. A tree of bees on your property is more valuable to me than a hive of bees on mine.
I respond to swarm calls free of charge.
Performing a cut out can be done free of charge, but more realistically for a reasonable fee. It is often an all day affair, and takes a significant amount of resources to accomplish. Please call if you have any questions. _Ben 319-830-8632
Donations can be made on Venmo. @Benjamin-Hoksch
Iowa – Wisconsin – Clayton County – Winneshiek County – Delaware County – Allamakee County – Fayette County – Dubuque County – Buchanan County – Crawford County Wisconsin – Guttenberg – Prairie du Chien – Waukon – Lansing – Postville – West Union – Marquette – McGregor – Elkader – Strawberry Point – Oelwein – Volga – Edgewood – Dubuque – Manchester
Honey Bee Removal from other parts of the country:
PA Swarm Removal https://ilovebees.buzz
Other Links
https://horizontalhive.com/
https://tfb.podbean.com/
http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm
https://parkerbees.com/
https://kirkwebster.com/