Bee Removal | Honeycomb Removal | Bee and Wasp Control

Call The Experts Today!

Phoenix Main Number:
(602) 670-2222

Tucson Main Number:
(520) 743-8000

Click Here to View All Locations

Phone: 520-743-8000
Click Here to View Locations

Honeycomb Removal Photos Galleries

Click on one of the galleries below to view the slideshow.

Honeycomb Removal Photos

Most people are aware of the fact that honeybees make honeycomb, and this includes Africanized honeybees. When a bee colony infests a residential or commercial building structure, they quickly get about the business of building honeycomb to support their brood development and hold reserves of their major food source – which is honey. Bees in a resident bee colony work very hard to preserve and maintain their honey reserves. Unless a honeycomb cutout and honeycomb removal is performed directly after a bee removal service, honey will meltdown and can cause tremendous structural damage to your home or commercial building.

Here are some interesting facts relating to honeycomb meltdown:

  1. While water weighs 8.35 lbs. per gallon, honey weighs approximately 12 lbs. per gallon. Like water, when it melts down, it finds its most direct path to the ground. The problem is that dripping honey is more viscous than water and tends to saturate building material as it melts down.
  2. “Honey has the ability to absorb moisture directly from the air, a phenomenon calledhygroscopy. The amount of water the honey will absorb is dependent on the relative humidity of the air. This hygroscopic nature requires that honey be stored in sealed containers to prevent fermentation. Honey will tend to absorb more water in this manner than the individual sugars would allow on their own, which may be due to other ingredients it contains”.
  3. “In the hive, the bees use their “honey stomachs” to ingest and regurgitate the nectar a number of times until it is partially digested. Invertase synthesized by the bees and digestive acids hydrolyze sucrose to give the same mixture of glucose and fructose. The bees work together as a group with the regurgitation and digestion until the product reaches a desired quality. It is then stored in honeycomb cells. After the final regurgitation, the honeycomb is left unsealed. However, the nectar is still high in both water content and natural yeasts, which, unchecked, would cause the sugars in the nectar to ferment. The process continues as bees inside the hive fan their wings, creating a strong draft across the honeycomb, which enhances evaporation of much of the water from the nectar. This reduction in water content raises the sugar concentration and prevents fermentation “.
  4. Also, if a honeycomb cutout and honeycomb removal is not performed, shortly after a bee colony is exterminated, the dead brood will rot, honey will ferment unattended by the bees and create a strong unpleasant odor, not to mention attracting ants, cockroaches, crickets, mice and other vermin that will try to take advantage of the rich food source available to them.

Bee Pheromone: The other source of structural damage that is not as well known:

  1. Bees secrete pheromone scent. They use many different pheromone scents to communicate with each other, control brood development, etc. Scientists have identified and isolated many types of pheromone scent, but many are still being discovered.
  2. The Nasonov Pheromone, sometimes referred to as Nasonoff, is the one of specific concern. It acts as a marking scent for the foraging bees that go out for pollen, nectar, water and other materials. Foraging bees, the older worker bees, will deposit this scent from the end of their abdomen and fan it vigorously to spread the scent. They will use it to mark a hive entrance, the interior of the cavity the colony occupies, plant materials in foraging areas, and potential sites for occupation if they are scouting. During a honeycomb cut out and honeycomb removal, if this tracking scent is not removed or significantly reduced, the chances of re-infestation of the site by another colony is highly probable. A passing swarm can pick up that scent and will preferentially try to re-occupy a former bee site before anywhere else.

The proper procedure for removing honeycomb is a fairly extensive process with many steps and details to consider. Each honeycomb cutout and honeycomb removal is unique. The difficulty of removing the honeycomb and pheromone scent varies and can take several hours to several days. Our specialists have extensive training and have years of experience in how to properly remove honey, honeycomb and bee pheromone scent.