Do You Charge For Swarm Removal

MrILoveTheAnts · May 20, 2008, 11:10:23 PM

Do You Charge for Swarm Removal?

If so, How much?

What do you charge for Hive Removal?

Kathyp · May 21, 2008, 12:10:43 AM

i don't but next year i think i'll have to ask for a bit for the gas tank if they are out of town. the swarms i picked up were close to me, but the cutouts were a couple of hours away. that diesel is getting expensive!

JP · May 21, 2008, 12:52:01 AM

Try and get an idea of the going rate in your area. Fuel is getting very expensive, time is money, your time is money, I charge. Getting extra bees is a beautiful thing, but you are also providing a service, so why not cover your expenses at the very least, many do.

...JP

tillie · May 21, 2008, 08:51:52 AM

Bill Owens, Certified Master Craftsman Beekeeper, *(the only one in Georgia) gave a lecture on honeybee removal at Young Harris. He charges for swarm removal - pointing out that there's driving, time, effort and the person calling you generally is not the person getting stung! He encouraged all of us to charge for swarm removal.

Linda T in Atlanta

Sean Kelly · May 21, 2008, 10:04:46 AM

I think I'm gunna start telling people that I charge so I hopefully wont get as many calls this year to remove "honeybee swarms" of yellowjackets.

Sean Kelly

Kathyp · May 21, 2008, 10:12:00 AM

Quotehopefully wont get as many calls this year to remove "honeybee swarms" of yellowjackets.

that's why i have them email me a picture :-). of course that doesn't always work. there was that one lady who went out and took a picture of a honey bee, but when i got there it was a yellowjacket nest. after all....one yellow flying thing is much like another, right?

BMAC · May 21, 2008, 10:34:16 AM

I have not charged for swarm collection. Maybe next year I will charge for this service. It does take time and and as Kathy pointed out diesel is getting to be outrageous. Of course right now I am making my own.

I do charge for cutouts. The price for that varies upon location. If I need to rent scaffolding the price almost triples from normal cutouts. Then I tell them the base price is only for the first X number of hours. Then I charge them $20.00 an hour for every hour past the base X number of hours.

I was told the $20.00 per hour is way too low and I should be charging them upwards of $60.00 - $70.00 an hour. Especially considering most people are not willing to get stung to remove the bees.

KONASDAD · May 21, 2008, 11:02:22 AM

Hanging swarms I do for free and demand a donation to club. The donation is dependant on height of swarm and distance travelled. From $25 to $75. I also charge businesses for hanging swarms. Cutouts, I charge. Start at $150 and up. I also will take into account the person I am doing removal fro. I did one for an octagenarian and charged less.

JP · May 21, 2008, 11:08:55 AM

I don't have a problem getting stung to remove bees, it comes with the territory. :-D

Get this, I get a call yesterday from a lady, I didn't take the call, my sister n law did, anyway, she had just noticed she had bees up near a dormer, I get there, take my ladder off the truck, I'm 20' up fooling with these things, and I can see a good bunch of bees entering the dormer but there's a cluster on the oustide but I find no queen, I figured she had already gone in anyway.

Anyway, so once I realize this is more than a swarm call, I get down to speak with the woman and let her know that this colony has already established itself and we would need to talk about options and pricing.

Let me back up for a minute. As you all know who do this type of thing, timing is of the utmost essence when you get out of your vehicle and see a cluster next to any kind of obvious entrance hole. You want to act fast and hopefully you catch the queen before she enters.

So, I usually jump out the truck like a madman to set my ladder up and go to town so I can resolve a problem and hopefully not have to take anything apart to remove the bees.

In this case I did just that, didn't really have time to talk about price or anything.

So fast forward, the woman says, pay? Well, I said, when you call a someone and get them to come out and perform a service for you, you don't expect to pay for their services, I find that quite odd??

She says, just leave them then, I'll just call my pest guy. I say, well, I'm a pest guy and a beekeeper, your guy will charge you for his trip out, won't he?
I'm right here.

Anyway, I put my ladder back on the truck and left her with her bees.

I had a talk with the sis n law you bet about mentioning the charge thing, you bet.

The woman can have her bees.

Just remember people, sometimes a swarm call is more than what you think it is, charge for your services!!!

...JP

my-smokepole · May 21, 2008, 12:24:49 PM

I my be all wet but In the state of Ohio pest controal are not aloud to kill Bees :) as i have heard it. Wasp yes :)
My-smokepole

jimmy · May 21, 2008, 12:42:04 PM

I have caught my own swams and can do that for folks if thay are close to ground for free. I will never try to move established hives for any amount of money or bees.
My experience with that ,I spent 3 days working hard trying to save a nest of bees that flew into a tree 25 feet off the ground. I was trying to help a neighbor save bees and I wound up killing them myself with wasp and hornet spray on the tree because he said he was afraid they would enter another part of his house.

JP and other that do this for the bees, my hats off to you.
jimmy

SystemShark · May 21, 2008, 02:05:41 PM

I just did my first two swarm removals recently. Both people asked me what my fee was and I told them that whatever they felt comfortable. I've heard between 20-40$. I tell them its to cover time, fuel, and initial hive costs. I don't plan on going more than an hour to get bees but gas can still sneak up on you...specially if your in a truck or SUV.

My first one gave me $35 and my second one gave me $25

Moonshae · May 21, 2008, 10:39:34 PM

I don't charge. I haven't gotten a call that wasn't honeybees, and when my offer to remove them is followed by "is there a charge for that?", I know they'd rather destroy them than pay to have them removed.

The way I see it, 3 lbs of bees with a queen is worth $75 (package price), so it'd take a lot of driving to make that a financial loss. Most of my swarms this year were that big or bigger.

Besides, I'd rather encourage people to call beekeepers than to destroy them...it took CCD to get people to look favorably on bees...why encourage them to see killing as the answer?

Kathyp · May 21, 2008, 11:28:43 PM

moonshae, that's kind of where i have been with the whole thing. i do what i can do, and pass on what i can't. the two that i did so far away were really nice hives and i got a lot of honey. it was fun, so it was worth it. the swarms were a piece of cake. well worth the time it took. still, if i have to go so far with fuel so high, i think people will probably be willing to fill the tank.

TwT · May 22, 2008, 06:15:32 AM

I use to pick up swarms for free but this year I charge $25 for under 30 miles and $50 for longer rides, on removals I charge $100 down and $50 a hour plus they supply any rentals and they do all repairs unless its something easy to replace of course.

Ross · May 22, 2008, 11:23:47 AM

If it's more than 5 miles or so, I generally ask for gas money. I also tell them that they need to call me on the cell if the bees leave before I get there. If it's more than 15 miles I decline unless they want to pay me. Cutouts are $100 an hour including travel time, if I have time.

IndianaBrown · May 23, 2008, 12:44:57 AM

I remove hanging swarms up to about 12' off the ground within my 4 county area for free. I would go farther for gas money, but you run the risk of the hive leaving while you are on the way. There are several other beeks who will pick up swarms in my general area, so I glad when I get a call. Also, as Moonshae pointed out, a swarm is saving me about $75. I have never had a problem getting the queen with a swarm, so I am pretty much guaranteed a viable hive, probably healthy, possibly feral survivors.

Cut outs and trap outs are $100 minimum. I have not had any yet this year, and I am considering not doing them next year for several reasons:

1. I am having great luck with swarms, especially this year. (5 calls so far. One flew off before we could get there but we found out just as we were about to leave home. Zero stings.)

2. A swarm is one trip, (usually less than 2 hours total time spent even if I go out for a bite to eat while the bees settle in.) A cut out can take a whole day or more. A trapout, while easy, takes several trips over many weeks.

3. As I said above, a swarm is most likely going to end up being a viable hive. I am getting something for doing it. A cut out or trap out may or may not get me a viable hive. It is more as a service, for which I would want to get paid for time, expenses, and expertise (such as it is. :) ) When you throw in potential liability and other legal issues (such as do you need a license in town/county X?) I think I should either specialize in it or avoid it.

CBEE · May 23, 2008, 02:03:36 PM

I charge for swarm removal. Gas is now two expensive and my time is to valuable to go on wild bee chases that have no guarentee of getting bees or if they really are bees.
I had 2 calls this year that left about 10 min before I got there to get them. Both were about 30 miles from the house and I had to take the truck due to needing a ladder to get them. The old truck gets about 10 MPG. Price depends on the situation and distance. There may be some I will do free but not many. It's amazing what people want you to do for nothing.

Ross · May 25, 2008, 03:41:48 PM

I got $50 for the one I did last night and today. Two trips and 35 miles each way made it barely a break even. They were also the hottest swarm I've ever seen. I left half of them in the tree last night because they were so hot. I got lucky and got the queen in the box before I left I guess, because they were all in there this morning. Every time I touched them thousands of bees hit me stinging. Now I'll have to dig the queen out and re-queen. There is no such thing as free bees!