Removal of bees from structures is a more complicated issue. Kentucky state law necessitates “modifications to structures” for pest control reasons to be done by licensed pest control agencies, i.e. folks with a commercial sprayers license. This licensure is well outside the scope of beekeeping, and while the law was likely drafted to stop independent unlicensed terminate control, catches us too. In our region, Black Diamond Pest Control (812-944-0453) performs live-bee removals and placements, was trained by Jake, and has all the necessary licensure and insurances one would require. There are other removal companies too, but many are unlicensed, while many beekeepers still do removals as well. We occasionally make recommendations other than BD, for instance emergency removals, or events where the removal is voluntary, such as before a structure is demolished. Call the hotline for direction, 502-BEE-2145.

If you have a bee colony in a structure, there is a temptation to spray the colony instead of paying for a colony removal. Spraying is initially cheaper, but ends up more costly long term. While spraying can kill the colony, varied pests move in to feast on the pounds of dead bees, creating a whole new issue with maggots, slime, and stench! It also leaves the comb intact, which is a siren call to future bee colonies to move in. We receive several calls each year for hives that had been sprayed and killed before that repopulated. It is cheaper to pay for removal once, than recurring bee problems year-after-year.