Call Before You Spray!

Bumble Bee Rescue and Relocation

Are you having issues with bumblebees? Not sure if what you are seeing are bumblebees? Click here to see pictures and read up on them. (Wikipedia)

This time of year, we start getting calls asking for help to deal with bumblebees. As the season approaches, a nest of bumbles will grow in population and become a lot more noticeable, and possibly invasive if they are near where humans work, play, or relax. Garages, gazebos, around hot tubs, in garden sheds, wood piles or compost piles these useful and endangered wild pollinators seem to set up shop in inconvenient places (for us….).

Now bumblebees are pretty passive and will get defensive but it takes quite a bit messing with them to really get them going. Generally, if you ignore them, they ignore you. Bumblebees being annual cycle species, wherever they set up they will be done and gone come the middle of October. So, number one, live and let live is the best option for the bumbles.

Sometimes that’s not a viable option. Small children, pets, or those with venom allergies may not be comfortable with the situation to continue as is. However, extermination still is not necessarily the best solution.

If the nest is accessible, we can remove it as a whole and relocate the colony to our maintained sanctuary. This allows the bees to keep producing viable queens for the following spring. Potentially 20 to 30 queens will form their own nests next spring, so preserving your bumblebee nest this year really helps out an endangered species the next.

We offer a free phone consultation to explore options and give you a clear understanding to assess a solution in your comfort zone.

Click here for our issue 18 newsletter with information on why Bumblebees are so important! ❤️

We can do an on-site evaluation, for a small fee of 30.00 which is counted as payment towards relocating if you choose that option afterwards, the cost of a relocation is $60.00

We do not profit from your altruism. We treat this as a donation to help with fuel cost of the trip out and back, and professional beekeeper time, with the remaining going to public education, conservation, and pollinator awareness.

A professional exterminator will charge you over 200.00.

So, we save the bees, you save money, and get a chance to learn all about these wonderful pollinators while feeling good about preserving the ecosystem that helps keep us all alive.

After the nest has been removed or abandoned, the crucial thing is to clean up the area where the colony was located. Spring queens love old mouse or squirrel nests, piles of leaves, burlap, old insulation or newspapers to set up a home. If you provide the environment, they will oblige you.

Understanding bees is key to co-existing with them. Knowing their value and behavior can dispel the anxiety of them being in our space. If we truly cannot accommodate them, then preserving them is a worthy endeavor. No bees equals no food, after all.

To discuss our relocation services please feel free to call us at 204-612-2337 anytime or find our other contact info here!

If located outside of Manitoba, give us a ring anyway so we can refer you to a fellow beekeeper in your neighbourhood!