Davis Bee Charmers

Davis Bee Charmers offer LIVE honey bee swarm and hive rescue/removal services to Davis, Dixon, Sacramento, Woodland, and Winters. The bees are "charmed" into new hives that can be taken to a safer location. All their bees are given a good home in one of two local apiaries and/or distributed to aspiring local beekeepers in the Davis Bee Collective. The Charmers also offer natural beekeeping lessons and group workshops that cover everything you need to know to get started keeping bees. Beekeeping consultations are provided for local farmers as well. Hive building workshops are offered in late winter and early spring.

Services offered (WE SAVE THE BEES!)

FREE SWARM CAPTURE!

Do you have a cluster of bees hanging on a tree or house that appeared within the past week...we can remove them for you free of charge and save the bees at the same time! We find local aspiring beekeepers who want bees and install them in their hives where they will be cared for! If you are more than 10 miles from Davis, please consider chipping in $10-20 for gas to support beekeepers providing this service.

HIVE REMOVAL and Relocation

Do you have a colony of bees building comb in your structure? Most likely, if you've noticed bees for more than a week, they are already busily building comb in your structure. We can remove the bees and the comb; this may require an access hole be cut to remove the bees and the use of a special bee vacuum which helps capture all the bees without killing them....Before any work is performed, an estimate will be provided with a cost range based on time required to remove the bees. Sometimes, this service must be scheduled a week in advance, especially during the busy spring and summer months. The bees are saved and given a good home in a beekeeper's hive. A complimentary jar of local raw honey awaits you as a thank you from the bees. In this time of declining bee populations, it is more important then ever before to save the bees that we can!

Beekeeping lessons

1 on 1 lesson - all you need to know to start keeping bees (~1-2 hour lesson costs $30)


group lessons - interactive group lessons, with or without live bee demonstration and honey tasting


school presentations - we can come to your school and teach kids about bees


farmer consultation - are you a farmer interested in keeping bees year round...we can help you create an apiary where the bees needs are met.


creation of educational apiaries - see the Davis Bee Sanctuary

WANT BEES???— Swarms sold here!

Want to start keeping bees, have a hive ready to go but no bees?...Get on the swarm waiting list for spring/summer 2012 by emailing us. We will install them for you and help you find a suitable location for your hive. The best way to start off beekeeping is with a locally caught swarm with a queen and several thousand worker bees. Why pay as much as $130 for a small package of bees from the store when you have a cheaper local option?....The Davis Bee Charmers ask for donations on a sliding scale, $50 is the minimum that will help make this service available for future years. If you want to learn how to catch your own swarm, we can give you a lesson.

A little bee education

1) a SWARM: a colony replicates itself by sending half the worker bees with the old queen to search for a new home...they temporarily land on a structure or tree branch nearby and send out scout bees to find a permanent home. A SWARM IS USUALLY DOCILE AND UNLIKELY TO STING (unless the weather is cold/rainy or the bees have been there for several days). Understand that a swarm of bees is much friendlier than a hive of bees that has taken up residence and started to build comb. If the bees are going into a hole where a cavity exists, it's likely they are not swarming and instead are building up their comb and ready to defend their home. See #2. As soon as you see a swarm, contact us since they could move into a structure and make it much more difficult to remove.

2) an established HIVE: once the scout bees find a suitable home (usually a cavity in a tree or wall...they only require an access hole ~1/2 inch), the swarm will move into the cavity and start building comb, raise brood, and build up their population (usually up to 50-60,000 by summer!). AN ESTABLISHED HIVE IS DEFENSIVE AND MORE LIKELY to STING, especially if their comb has been intruded upon. Removing an establishing hive involves a lot more work depending on how accessible they are and how long they've had to build up their hive...if they are in a wall, for example, one has to cut a hole in the wall wide enough to access the bee colony, then cut out all the comb and capture as many bees as possible to ensure the queen is caught, in which case the rest of the bees will follow her....all this while dealing with stinging bees trying to defend their home from the intruder (the beekeeper). This is completely different than catching a swarm and a lot more dangerous!

In any case, call the Bee Charmers AS SOON AS YOU NOTICE BEES and we can provide a quote..

(After July, it becomes more costly to perform removals due to the size of a colony and higher risk of the colony not surviving the winter intact. It's always better to try to remove bees in the spring time and AS SOON AS YOU NOTICE BEES. Bees can quickly expand their colony over the spring and summer. If you wait, the bees will multiply and so will their built comb!)

....Don't Worry Bee Happy!

Hive Removal Disclaimer

As honeybees are living insects and DBCs do not employ poisons of any kind in their removal procedures, there are several outcomes Davis Bee Charmers cannot guarantee:

1. All bees are removed — Generally there are several bees either foraging or flying about during the removal. These sometimes do not recollect themselves with the hive before removal. They will clump around the area where the hive was previously located for several days. In some circumstances, Davis Bee Charmers may need to make several return visits or leave a box to collect the stragglers.
   

2. More bees won’t return- When Davis Bee Charmers has completed the removal, they will clean out the wax and disguise the bee scent as much as possible to prevent the location from becoming a lure to other bees. However, if you happen to live in a “bee highway” where swarms repeatedly return, they will continue to do so, just maybe in another part of your house. If this is the case, they recommend that you provide a “bait hive” – a small “nuc” box with a few frames- in a location more convenient to remove.
   

3. Uncontrollable circumstances — In some cases, the bees have located themselves in such a difficult spot that successful removal cannot be guaranteed. This is generally the case with tree hives. Unless the tree can be opened up completely, the queen will most likely just bury herself deeper in the tree. It only takes one queen to create an entire bustling hive. In such cases, they usually recommend co-existence with the bees. Unless you are allergic to them, they can be an entertaining and educational conversation piece in addition to increasing the productivity of your and your neighbors’ gardens. Africanized Bees or, as you may hear them called in the press, "Killer Bees" are not in this area (too cold). Unlike wasps, our friendly Italian bee's goal in life is not to sting you (they die if they do). If you do not harm or threaten the bees, they will not harm you.

Thus, before beginning the removal job, Davis Bee Charmers will examine your situation and give you a reasonable and informed estimate of labor involved and probability of success. Please ask any questions you have. They are in this business for the bees. It is their goal to promote the husbandry and appreciation of bees. Without them, we could not eat most of the products we consume on a daily basis.