West Palm Beach Hive Comb Removal and Cavity Cleaning

When the comb is the problem

Once a colony has built comb in a cavity, dealing with the bees alone doesn't finish the job. The wax stays, and it has to come out.

The most common version we see is a colony that is still active, with comb we can get to. The bees and the comb come out in the same visit. The easy end of this work is an accessible colony with little or no comb. A cavity holding a real amount of comb is a slower, piece-by-piece job.

How we take the comb out

We cut the comb out of the cavity in pieces. Any piece worth keeping gets secured to an empty frame the same way up it was built. Comb has a top and a bottom, and a piece set in upside down is a piece handled wrong.

We then brush or vacuum the remaining adult bees into the hive box. Our bee vacuum has adjustable suction and airflow, so we set it for what we're pulling instead of running one speed at everything. The bee brush handles the bees the vacuum shouldn't take, and the smoker keeps the colony settled while we work.

Our storm season and heavy rain raise the risk of water and wind damage at any opening on the house, so we don't leave a cavity standing open any longer than the work takes.

What the job costs

Accessible colony removal with little or no comb runs $150 to $350. From a description of the opening and how much activity you're seeing, we can usually tell you on the phone where your job sits against that range. The exact figure is set after we've seen inside the cavity.

The price depends on two things: how much comb is in there and how easy it is to reach. More comb, or comb in an awkward spot, takes the job past that range. Our written quote lists what we found, what we're cutting out and what the comb is going into, line by line.