Bee Removal Vs. Extermination

In the case of bee removal and relocation vs. extermination you get what you pay for...I have had a lot of calls recently stating that a lot of bee keepers will remove bees for free.  Although some bee removals are very straight forward and pretty quick, so are some visits to the doctor and the dentist. Just because something can be quick and easy doesn't mean it is going to be cheap.  A beekeeper has had years of dealing with bees that are just amazing creatures that need a new home, but still need an expert to handle them and properly relocate them if they are going to survive.  Now most bee calls that I have been on are very sticky and hard, this is because of the need to remove the honey comb and relocated it delicately into the new hive.  This is very hard in the hot AZ summer when the wax melts very quickly outside of the bee cooled hive.  Bees keep the temperature of the hive at a very constant temperature as to not allow fluctuating outside temperatures harm the brood (or baby bees) inside.  The removal of hives when done right requires all the removal, cutting and in most cases washing, painting and sealing up the area of removal. After this job, which can take up to 8 hours depending on the size of the average hive, there is still another 2-4 hours of properly placing the bees in a suitable home.  All of this work is great to make and harvest honey from the bees, if they decide they like their new home. If they don't they will move out leaving the beekeeper having lost all of that time to simply allow the bees a new place to leave. This is why we charge.  It is a small fee compared to the extremely valuable service that is provided for the client and the environment.  An exterminator on the other hand, will simply kill the bees (not so great for them or the environment) and more often than not, leave behind a stinking mess of old comb and honey and dead brood for the maggots to clean up.  In that case, the exterminator will need to have the hive removed, or possibly have to be called back later in order to remove the hive, which by then I have heard quotes of up to $900!  This is not to say that an exterminator is not necessary.  There are some cases where Abello Bees doesn't currently have the resources to remove bees from certain spots.  In that case I can understand calling one in, but for the majority of bee problems, a quality beekeeper will suffice.