Honey Bees

Return to Pest Gallery Honeybees or Honey Bees

Honeybees are generally good for humans. Honeybees produce honey and beeswax, as well as pollinate commercial fruits, vegetables, and field crops. However, by establishing a bee hive or colony in a house, building, or area frequented by humans they may be a nuisance or hazard. Although it is not unlawful to destroy honey bees, it is always best to save them if possible. Our trained pest control specialists can find the best approach to resolve your problems with honeybees in Georgia.

Honeybees are characterized by a long, pointed tongue, front wings with three closed submarginal cells, and no spurs at the tips of the hind legs. Adults consist of three castes: queens (3/5- to 3/4-inch long) which are egg layers, drones (3/4- to 5/8-inch long) which are functional males, and workers (2/5- to 3/5-inch long) which are undeveloped females.

The honeybee queen is the only female in the colony capable of laying fertilized eggs. There is only one queen per colony. The queen's existence is essential to the survival of the colony because without her there would be no reproduction in the colony. A queen may live for two to five years. Drones are male bees that exist only to fertilize or mate with young queens. There may be several hundred drones in the spring and summer, but they are all eliminated in the fall and winter when their services are no longer wanted. Drones typically live 40 to 50 days, and are larger than the queen or worker bees. The majority of bees in the honeybee colony are workers. They perform most of the functions bees are known for, such as making honey and stinging for defense. Although workers are females, they cannot lay fertilized eggs. There may be as many as 60,000 workers in a colony, though the average figure for an entire year is 30,000. Workers live only 40 days in the summer, but may live several months during winter. Some gather nectar and pollen in the field; others process the honey. Usually, the workers perform their duties based on age. The younger ones are cleaners and helpers. The older, more experienced bees, are builders and do the foraging in the field.

The nest is the comb on which the bees rest, rear brood, and store honey. The comb is constructed of wax. It has a central rib, with six-sided cells constructed on each side parallel to the ground. The cells are the storage area for the bee colony and at the same time serve as the nursery for rearing young bees. An established honey bee colony will sometimes divide itself, and one or more swarms will leave the hive. The new swarm may cluster for a while on a tree limb or bush near the old hive while scout bees search for a suitable place to establish a new home. Usually scout bees find a hollow tree, but occasionally they will choose the wall voids of a home. Honeybees may nest in the wall or attic some distance from where they enter the wall.

Pest control companies may be contacted to destroy the bees if needed. Although killing adult bees is usually fairly easy, removal of the comb and honey can be very difficult. It might be useful to have a beekeeper and carpenter or beekeeper with carpenter abilities present to assist. Bees from other colonies can also be a nuisance around the home as long as honey remains to be robbed from the killed colony. Scavenging insects, such as carpet beetles, wax moths, ants, or flies, are also attracted to killed bee colonies. For a thorough job of controlling or managing honeybee problems you should hire an Atlanta pest control company such as Zone Pest Solutions.

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