Important - Beekeepers need and expect payment for their services. Rescuing and relocating bees is risky, serious work requiring training, equipment, and experience. Transportation, specialized clothing, specialized capture equipment, hive equipment to house the bees, and materials to set up the new location all cost money. No beekeeper is getting rich rescuing bees.
It can go like this - a beekeeper spends a long day removing bees from a location, places the bees and their comb in a hive box, and moves those bees to a location that had to be prepared to receive them. A day later, the beekeeper goes to check on the bees only to find that the rescued bees have left their new home to set out on their own! An experienced beekeeper has described rescuing bees as, "It is like trying to make a feral cat into a house cat...it is a great idea and well-intended, but... it doesn't always work.” The bees will probably be all right and you got the bees out of your wall, but the beekeeper has lost out.
Paying the beekeeper partially offsets these inevitable losses.
If the colony stays, beekeepers are required by state law to purchase a new queen for all captured colonies in order to minimize the likelihood of transmitting Africanized Bee genes to the kept bee population.
There is no such thing as free bees.
All bee cutouts, swarm collections, and trap-out arrangements are strictly between you and the beekeeper.
The Suncoast Beekeepers Association is not party to any arrangements between you and beekeeper.
The Suncoast Beekeepers Association merely provides contact information as a courtesy.
It helps to contact the beekeeper closest to where you live.
If the beekeeper you call is unable to help you, just keep going down the list.
Beekeepers who do removals, arranged from north to south:
Daniel Charvat: Parrish, 34219 - 941-779-4167 - dcharvat1582@hotmail.com
Shiraz Hassan: Bradenton, 34203 - 941-739-6787 - shirazhassan@yahoo.com
Kevin Lausman: Bradenton, 34209 - 941-500-3352 - suncoastbeekeeper@gmail.com
Jim Cutway: Myakka City, 34251 - 941-746-1597 - myakkasgoldapiary@gmail.com
Bees in Bradenton, Sarasota, Hardee, and De Soto counties
Dane Snyder: Bradenton, 34203 : (Swarms only please): 941-752-7966
Tom Mawn: Sarasota, 34236: 941-866-0233 - www.beepals.com - lidobees@gmail.com
Bradley Stiles: Sarasota, 34239: 941-312-3124 - willhoitefarms@gmail.com
Ashley Williams: Sarasota, 34241: 941-685-1814 - beesmake@hotmail.com
Karl Lasser: Osprey, 34229: 941-724-6850 - mrkarllas@comcast.com
Michael Brown: Venice, 34292: 941-484-6359 - (swarms only) - m3brown3@verizon.net
Juliette Jones: North Port, 34287 : 941-237-1195 - bodymindspiritconnection@gmail.com
BEE REMOVAL - Swarms, Cut-outs, and Trap-outs
What about the Bees?
Is it a Swarm, Cut-out, or Trap-out?
What is the difference? I have bees, come get them!
Swarm removal is usually free.
Cut-outs and trap-outs are usually done on a fee basis.
Critical - Do not spray bees with anything. Sprayed bees cannot be rescued.
If you have sprayed the bees, please call a pest control company.
The bees will have to be euthanized.
Suncoast Beekeepers Association