Where Do the Bees Go After We Remove Them? Inside Beecasso's Los Angeles Bee Sanctuaries

One of the questions we're asked most often during a live bee removal is:

Where do the bees actually go?

Honey bee colonies removed by Beecasso are relocated to our sanctuary locations around Los Angeles, including the Hollywood Hills, Topanga Canyon and Pasadena, where they are rehomed and cared for.

Some of these sanctuaries are on private properties, and one of our sanctuary locations was provided to us by the City of Pasadena.

We've been removing and relocating honey bees in Los Angeles for years, and having established places to take them is an important part of what we do. When a colony can be safely removed alive, we can take it away from a home or business where it may otherwise face extermination and give it a place to reestablish.

From a Los Angeles Home to a New Hive

Honey bees can establish colonies in all kinds of places around Los Angeles. We regularly find them inside walls, roofs, chimneys, soffits and other structural cavities, as well as in trees and other outdoor locations.

An established colony can contain thousands of bees along with brood, honey and comb.

During a live removal, we carefully expose the hive and remove the bees and comb from the structure. Once the colony has been removed, the bees leave the property with us and are transported to one of our sanctuary locations.

There, they can be rehomed into a hive away from the property where they were causing a problem.

The Honeycomb Goes With Them

We don't just relocate the bees.

Whenever possible, we take their honeycomb with them.

The comb contains resources the colony has already worked to produce, including honey that can be used to help feed the bees and keep the colony strong after relocation.

This is one reason a proper live removal involves more than simply collecting the visible bees outside a structure. When we're dealing with an established hive, we're dealing with the colony and what's inside the cavity as well.

Bee Sanctuaries Across Los Angeles

Over the years, we've built relationships with property owners around Los Angeles so we have safe places to take the colonies we remove.

Today, our sanctuary locations include private properties in the Hollywood Hills and Topanga Canyon, along with a sanctuary location provided to us by the City of Pasadena.

One of the locations overlooks the Malibu coastline. It's a pretty remarkable setting for colonies that may have arrived there after being removed from a wall, roof or chimney somewhere else in Los Angeles.

The colonies are rehomed there, away from the properties where they were causing a problem, and given the opportunity to establish themselves again.

Hand-Painted Beecasso Bee Boxes

Some of the hives at our sanctuary locations are hard to miss.

Steve custom paints bee boxes by hand, turning standard hive boxes into colorful, one-of-a-kind homes for the colonies.

He has been painting them for years, both for bees being cared for at our sanctuary locations and as custom boxes for creative beekeepers who want something a little different from a traditional hive.

The painted hives also explain the Beecasso name pretty well. Steve has always combined beekeeping with his love of art, and over the years he's painted many of the hive boxes used for our relocated colonies.

What Does "Live Bee Removal and Relocation" Actually Mean?

When we tell a customer their bees are being relocated, those bees really are leaving the property with us and going to one of our sanctuary locations.

For example, a colony removed from inside a Los Angeles wall doesn't simply get put into a box and released somewhere afterward. We remove the colony and its comb, transport the bees away from the property and rehome them at one of our established sanctuary locations.

It solves the problem for the property owner without unnecessarily destroying the colony. Once the bees leave with us, they have somewhere safe to go.

Why Not Just Leave the Bees Where They Are?

If honey bees are living somewhere that doesn't create a problem, they don't necessarily need to be removed.

But a colony living inside a home or commercial building is different.

Bees inside a wall, roof or other structural cavity can build significant amounts of comb over time. Simply sealing their entrance while the colony is still inside can create additional problems and isn't the same thing as removing the hive.

That's why we first determine where the colony is located and what will be required to access and remove it.

Live Bee Removal in Los Angeles

Beecasso Bee Removal provides live bee removal and relocation throughout Los Angeles and surrounding areas.

If you're seeing honey bees repeatedly entering the same opening in a wall, roof, chimney, soffit or other part of your property, there may be an established colony inside.

We can inspect the location, determine where the bees are established and explain the appropriate removal options.

And if we're able to relocate the colony, you don't have to wonder where the bees disappear to after we leave.

They're headed to one of our Beecasso bee sanctuaries around Los Angeles, where they can be rehomed and cared for.