One of the purposes of our bee blogs is to allow our customers to gain knowledge of what to expect when they have a bee problem. We have discussed what happens when bees land in a tree. We have also written blogs about what happens when bees invade a structure.

This blog answers a different question. This blog is all about how long it takes to remove bees or a hive from a property.

So how long does it take to remove bees? The answer to this depends on two things.

  1. How hard is the hive or swarm to reach?
  2. How big is the hive or swarm?

So here’s the deal. Hives almost always require more time than that of a swarm. For those who are unsure what the difference is, you should check out our previous blog that outlines how to tell the difference between a swarm and a hive.

If you have a swarm (and it is easy to reach) a live bee removal can be performed very quickly. Often times, the actual removal can be done in under a minute! Check out this clip of one of our fastest bee removals from USS Midway in Downtown San Diego, CA.

So as you can see, the actual removal is fairly quick with a swarm. There is no hive, honeycomb, wax, or honey to remove. Most of the time spent on a swarm removal is actually spent setting up the equipment and then later driving the bees to the bee farm to be relocated.

Hives are different. Hives often take longer to remove…especially if they are in a roof or a wall. Check out this video of a hive that was removed from a tile roof. The actual hive removal took a few hours, so the video speed was revved up in order to get into one watchable clip.

This job took place in Hillcrest, CA and was split up into three days. The first day was an inspection to locate the hive inside the structure. The second day an elimination of the bees was performed, due to the height of the building and the fact that the bees were partially africanized. The third day was the actual hive removal and repair. All together this job took about 10 hours over three days.

So if you have a simple swarm that is easy to get to, you can expect our technician to complete job in less than 15 minutes (including getting signatures and payments). Swarm appointments are quick, because most of the time involved is spent relocating the bees once they are off the property.

Hives on the other hand, often take a little bit longer. A hive hanging off a tree limb, or inside an irrigation box will likely take less than a half an hour.

If however the bees are inside a wall or roof, the inspection, removal, and repair will usually be completed over the span of a few days.