Will a pest control company in Springfield, MO remove a honey bee hive, or send a beekeeper?
By Jacob Ingledue
Table of Contents
By Jacob Ingledue
Titan Pest Pro does not remove, treat or relocate honey bees. If you have a honey bee hive in a wall, a soffit or a tree by the house in Springfield, we will send you to a local beekeeper. That is not us dodging the job. A honey bee colony is a living thing that a beekeeper can often save, and spraying it from the outside is the wrong tool for a problem that is mostly about what is left behind.
So the short answer to your question is this. A pest control company in Springfield that works the way we do will send a beekeeper for the bees and handle the building. The beekeeper takes the colony. The pest company deals with the entry hole, the leftover comb, and anything else that moved in afterward. If you call us first, you get both halves from one conversation, and you do not lose a day deciding who to phone.
The rest of this page explains why we draw the line where we do, what to do in the first hour after you spot a hive, what a beekeeper will want to know, and which stinging insects we do handle. You can also read our bee removal page for how the handoff works.
Honey bees are not a nuisance insect in the way a paper wasp or a yellow jacket is. They pollinate gardens, orchards and wild plants, and the colonies that end up in house walls are often swarms that left a managed hive and went looking for a dry cavity. A beekeeper wants those bees.
There is also a practical reason that has nothing to do with sentiment. A colony inside a wall is not just bees. It is bees, wax comb, stored honey and brood, all packed into a hollow space between studs. If you kill the bees without removing the comb, the comb stays. Honey in a warm wall runs and soaks into drywall and insulation. The smell draws ants, wax moths, flies and sometimes mice. A hive that looked like a one-visit problem turns into a six-month problem, and the stain on the ceiling is the first thing you notice.
The right order is the reverse of what most people picture. Live removal first, by someone who knows how to open the wall, take the comb out and bring the colony with it. Then the cleaning, the sealing and the repair. That is why we refer out for the bees and take the second half ourselves.
Springfield sits in a humid subtropical climate, and the late summer here is damp and heavy. That matters because wax and honey do not sit politely inside a wall in that weather. A heat spell in August can soften the comb, and a few weeks of that can turn a hidden colony into a visible, sticky mess.
Most people discover bees in one of three ways. They hear a steady hum from inside a wall, they see a stream of bees going in and out of a small gap, or they notice a dark patch or a drip on a ceiling or an exterior wall. Whichever it is, the first hour has a short list of things worth doing and a short list of things to avoid.
Anything about allergic reactions or how a sting might affect a particular person in your home is a question for your doctor, ahead of time, not something to figure out on the ladder.
Before anyone gets in a truck, it helps to know which situation you actually have, because a beekeeper will treat each one differently and so will we.
A swarm is a loose ball of bees hanging in the open, often on a tree limb, a bush, a fence post or a porch rail. It looks alarming, but swarms are usually between homes. They stay a few hours to a couple of days while scouts look for a cavity, then they leave. A beekeeper can often collect a swarm quickly and without opening anything, and many will do it at no charge because they want the bees. If you can leave the area alone for a day, it may solve itself.
This is the one that needs real work. The bees have a stable entrance, comb is growing, and the colony is committed. Honey bees will return to the same spot after you try to discourage them, and they will keep returning to the smell of old comb for a long time after the bees are gone. This is the case where a beekeeper does a cut-out, which means opening the wall, taking the comb out, and moving the bees.
Many calls about bees are not honey bees. A round gray paper nest hanging from a soffit is wasps or hornets. A cluster of holes about the width of your finger in a wooden deck rail is carpenter bees. A fist of bumble bees in the ground by a fence is something else again. Sorting these out matters because the answer for each is different, and we treat some of them. We cover that below.
You do not need to open anything to make a reasonable guess. Look at the bees themselves, if you can do it from a distance or in a photo.
If you are unsure, our page on bees or wasps in the wall walks through the sounds and signs that tell them apart. A short phone call with a photo will usually settle it.
When you call a beekeeper, you will get a better and faster answer if you have a few details ready. They are the same ones we ask when we connect you.
Expect the beekeeper to talk about two things you may not have thought of. First, access. A good cut-out means getting at the comb, which can mean opening drywall inside or pulling siding outside. Second, repair. Many beekeepers take the bees and the comb, and leave the patching to a contractor or to the homeowner. Ask up front what is included so there are no surprises.
This is where a pest company belongs in the story. Once the beekeeper has the colony, the house still has a hole, a hollow space and a smell. Left alone, that combination will draw the next problem.
Here is what we handle after a live removal.
We select and apply products according to label directions and explain preparation, re-entry and any household-specific precautions before service. If your home is in town, such as in one of the older Springfield neighborhoods with wood soffits and original siding, we will also look at the other gaps on the same wall while we are there, because bees are rarely the only thing using a worn entry point. Our Springfield pest control page lists the service areas we cover.
If you want the follow-up handled as part of an ongoing visit schedule, the Titan Elite Home Protection plan covers stinging insects such as bees and hornets along with several other pests, and the plans page explains how that fits with the regular visits.
It helps to be plain about what we treat, because a lot of people call about bees and describe the wrong insect. We do treat several stinging pests, and we do it as part of our regular work.
Carpenter bees are treated. They bore into untreated or weathered wood, such as the underside of a porch rail, the fascia or a deck post, and leave round holes with a clean tunnel behind them. They do not eat the wood the way termites do, but the tunnels weaken it over time and the holes invite woodpeckers. We treat the galleries and the surrounding wood, and we recommend sealing or painting the surface afterward so they do not return.
Paper wasps build open, umbrella-shaped nests under eaves, porch ceilings and light fixtures. Yellow jackets build in the ground or inside wall voids and can be much more aggressive. Both are treated. If you are looking at a ground nest or a nest that has been active for weeks, call us rather than going near it. Our wasp control page for Springfield explains what to expect.
Hornets, including bald-faced hornets, build the large gray football-shaped nests you see in trees and under roof lines. These are treated as well, and they are one of the reasons we ask you not to try removing a nest yourself.
We do not treat honey bees, and we do not treat bumble bees. Bumble bees nest in the ground, in piles of leaves or in old rodent burrows, and they are generally gone by the end of the season. If they are in a place that you cannot live with, a beekeeper or a local pollinator group is a better call than we are.
People sometimes hear the bees, decide they are not hurting anyone and leave them until the weather turns. It is a reasonable instinct, but wall colonies rarely get smaller. Honey bees keep building, and the comb gets heavier every month. The bees do not leave a good cavity. In a house wall, that means more and more of the hollow space fills with wax and honey, and the eventual removal gets bigger and messier.
There is a second reason, and it is moisture. Honey absorbs water out of the air, and a wall colony that dies in cold weather leaves a lot of honey and comb behind. On a humid, rainy Ozarks day or a warm spell after a cold winter, that mass can ferment, run or soak through. The bees may be gone, but the problem is not.
Once the colony is out and the cavity is cleaned, the work is not done until the opening is closed. Bees choose a cavity by size, dryness and smell, and the entrance matters. A gap about the size of a pencil is enough.
Here is what we look for around the outside of a house.
Sealing these is not complicated, but it has to be done after the cavity is clean. Sealing a hole with comb still inside just traps the smell and invites a new colony or a secondary pest. That is why the order matters. Bees out, cavity cleaned, entry sealed, area monitored.
If you have bees in a wall or a structure right now, here is the simplest path. Book a free inspection and we will look at what you are seeing. If it is honey bees, we will connect you with a local beekeeper. If it is carpenter bees, wasps or hornets, we will take it from there. Either way, you will get a clear answer about who does what and in what order.
And if you decide to call a beekeeper on your own first, that is a perfectly good plan. Give us a call afterward and we will inspect the opening, seal it and make sure nothing else has moved in. The bees are the beekeeper’s job. The house is ours.
Does Titan Pest Pro remove honey bees?
No. We do not treat, remove or relocate honey bees. We refer you to a local beekeeper.
Will a beekeeper remove bees from my wall for free?
It depends on the beekeeper and the job. Some collect swarms at no charge, but a cut-out from inside a wall involves opening the structure and takes real time, so many beekeepers charge for it. Ask when you call what is included, and whether wall repair is part of it.
Can I just spray the hive and be done?
We would not recommend it. Spraying kills the bees but leaves the wax and honey in the wall, which draws ants, moths and rodents and can stain drywall. A live removal followed by cleaning and sealing is the better order.
Do you treat carpenter bees?
Yes. Carpenter bees bore round holes in wood such as rails, fascia and deck posts, and we treat the galleries and surrounding wood. We also recommend sealing or painting the surface afterward so they do not return.
What if I am not sure whether they are honey bees or wasps?
Take a photo from a distance and call us. Honey bees are fuzzy and golden brown, while wasps are smooth and narrow-waisted. We can usually tell from a photo and the description of the nest which one you have and who should handle it.
Do you handle bumble bees?
No. We do not treat bumble bees. They usually nest in the ground or in leaf piles and are gone by the end of the season, so a pollinator group or a beekeeper is a better contact.
What should I do if someone in my home is allergic to stings?
That is a question for your doctor, ideally before there is a hive on the property. In the meantime, keep that person away from the area and call us or a beekeeper so the colony is dealt with promptly.
