Bee Damage
1. How Do African Bees Damage Your Home and Ruin Your Property Value?
Africanized bees (now called African bees) damage a structure when they first land. Pest control companies are unaware of this fact, and “bee removal” companies that DO NOT have extensive beekeeping experience have no perception of this either. All species of honeybees “mark” their colony with pheromone scent. EVERY BEE IN THE ENTIRE BEE COLONY urinates pheromone scent on the outside surface of the hollow cavity surrounding the entrance to the African bee colony. Moreover, African bees also smear and urinate their pheromone scent throughout the entire interior surface of that cavity.
This pheromone scenting is done so the African bees from that beehive (colony) can find their way back to their colony each time they forage out from their beehive finding flowers collecting nectar and pollen, as well as to collect water to keep the honeycomb cool. Similarly, African honeybees locate flower and water sources strictly by scent by marking each forage site with a pheromone scent called the Nasanov pheromone. African bees can smell this scent from as far as 3 miles away from their bee colony. Each worker bee makes many, many trips out from its colony location to flowers and water and back each day, bringing back these materials to make honey which will quickly cause severe structural damage to your home if it melts down. Understanding the process of bee infestation and subsequent removal will save the alert homeowner money by preventing the bee damage that will occur and worsen over time.
2. A new African bee colony swarms on vegetation near your home or on your property
A true “bee swarm” becomes a new separate African bee colony from its’ established African bee parent colony the minute the old queen bee and several thousand worker bees, separate and fly away from their parent African honeybee colony and, with their queen bee, find a new cavity to move into and they become a totally separate new African bee colony.
This bee swarm is called a “swarm” up until the time it selects a permanent location in which to build honeycomb, store honey and raise brood. It has its’ own worker bees, (who are all female and usually younger worker bees with “ripe” wax building glands) a queen bee, and often some male “drone” bees. A typical African bee swarm consists of between 8,000 to 12,000 bees. For reference, a bee swarm of 8,000 bees is the about the size of a football. As the African bee swarm moves away from its’ African honeybee parent colony, bee researchers believe that the bee swarm will attempt to move at least 3 miles away, before its’ scout bees begin to explore potential structural cavities in which to move. This cavity will become its permanent home. The African bee swarm always lands on or in vegetation, forming a “glob” before sending out scouts to explore and locate a structural cavity. This happens before exploring for a structural cavity and will form a “glob” on or in vegetation. From this resting site, special singular scout bees will immediately fly out staying within line-of-sight of the bee swarm, to locate a structural cavity nearby in which to move. Multiple potential sites may be scouted and considered, but only one will be chosen to occupy.
3. Once a new African bee colony finds a suitable cavity in a structure, it relocates as a group in minutes.
As the African bee swarm arrives, all 8,000 to 12,000 bees immediately begin urinating their individual pheromone scent on the exterior surfaces of that structural cavity. Often, they will ball up briefly on the outside of the entrance to the structural cavity. This is because not all of the enormous amount of bees can “scramble” in through the entrance at one time. After the necessary time for the bees to enter the cavity, it literally appears to a lay person, that the colony has “disappeared” or “left” or “moved on”, however, by then the entire group of African bees has already done significant damage to that structure by “marking it” with special bee pheromone substance, called the Nasanov bee pheromone, so the individual honey bees are able to find their home when returning from a bee foraging flight which will often be at least 3 miles away.
4. These African bees damage the structure by urinating pheromone scent on the surfaces outside and inside the structural cavity.
Immediately upon arriving in the selected cavity, the African worker bees begin to explore the cavity and continue to heavily apply and smear pheromone marking scent to the interior structures of the cavity. If the cavity is large, like in the roof of a building, some of the exploring bees may get too far from the colony entrance, find the first visible light source and mistakenly enter the interior of the building.
Because this bee infestation process happens so quickly, often the newly arrived African bee colony will go unnoticed until lost bees are found inside a building or home or worker bees are noticed going in and out of the entrance to the structural cavity. The “rule of thumb” is that even if you only see one or two worker honey bees going in and out of an exterior entrance at a time, you always have a bee colony.
Also, the Nasanov pheromone scent that the African worker bees urinate and smear liberally on the exterior and interior surfaces of the structural cavity, unless treated properly will cause future bee infestations to occur. A passing swarm will be irresistibly attracted by this bee pheromone scent which the African bees can smell from as far as 3 miles away and will preferentially try to infest a former bee colony site or a structural cavity nearby on your building or home.
5. We calm the bees using special smoke & pheromone calming agents exclusive to our Company. We then drill & probe in the structural cavity to determine the extent of the damage and to see if honeycomb is present and has begun to melt down, causing more damage.
No qualified bee removal specialist or beekeeper will begin an extermination by just spraying into the structural cavity from the outside entrance. It is important to first establish the colonies position in the cavity, and the extent of the honeycomb. We first use a queen simulated pheromone in a smoker to calm the bees on the interior and then begin methodically probing the inside of the cavity using well established techniques learned from our beekeeping heritage. Then and only then will we begin the bee extermination process. Otherwise, simply spraying into the opening will cause the bees to panic, flee and urinate even more bee pheromone scent, and spread them further throughout the interior of the structure. In many cases this method will force the bees into the inside of the building or home.
6. A new African bee colony quickly builds honeycomb causing even more structural damage.
Immediately on arrival, the African worker bees begin excreting beeswax from their glands and start building honeycomb structure, they do this very quickly. Some of the African worker bees begin foraging for pollen, nectar and water and the queen is positioned on the comb and begins laying eggs. An African queen bee can lay over 1000 eggs a day, and the first bee brood will begin emerging in 19 days. It is common for African honeybees to build 3 or 4 pieces of hanging honeycomb structure within the first 24 to 48 hours after arrival. Much structural damage can be avoided, if a newly arrived African bee colony is removed during this critical period.
7. Honeycomb itself, will cause serious structural damage to your home or property structures.
Honeycomb is filled with bee brood (developing baby bees) and condensed nectar (honey) in the honeycomb cells. The honeybees work very hard to condense and maintain the honey and keep it intact. If an extermination is improperly performed and the bee colony is damaged or if the honeycomb is not removed quickly, honeycomb will immediately start melting down (honeycomb meltdown). It will ferment and the dead bee brood will rot furthering the structural damage. Also, dripping honey and melting honeycomb carry heavy pheromone content. Without a proper honeycomb removal, as honeycomb meltdown occurs, bee pheromone scent is spread further throughout the structure and saturates building materials causing failure of structural materials and significant structural damage. Further, rotting bee brood and fermenting honey create a very undesirable odor and attract other pests and vermin that can cause even more structural damage and health concerns.
In conclusion, African bee infestations cause serious structural damage to your building structure or home. Improper bee removal and honeycomb removal procedures and techniques will worsen the damage; and without proper bee pheromone treatment, re-infestation of the bee colony site or areas on the building structure nearby is almost certain. Also, the longer a colony is left to build and develop in a structural cavity, the more aggressive and defensive the African bees will get. African bees have caused many injuries and deaths to people, pets and livestock throughout Arizona. Again, understanding the process of bee infestation will save the alert homeowner money by preventing the bee damage that will occur and worsen over time. Don’t risk the disaster of a poorly done job! Call the bee experts first.
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