Bees
There are more than 20,000 species of bees, of which only seven are recognised as honey bees. Bees are important in the pollination of plants including plant species important to humans.
Bees have a short, rounded body with long antennae. The honey bee is easily distinguished from other bee species because of its orange-brown colour. Bees often come to be noticed when they are swarming, although they are generally non-aggressive at this time.
The queen bee can lay up to 2000 eggs in a day; these eggs are attached to the honeycomb “cell” with a strand of mucus. During early season, the eggs hatch into workers while in the late summer, some of the eggs are “fertilized” and thus grow into other queen bees which will start their own colony. The unfertilized eggs laid by the queen bee are male and are called drone bees and depending on the species, the life cycle of the bee can span across 16-100 days.
Generally bees aren’t aggressive except for when they are protecting their hive. Although not found in Australia at this time, the Africanised bee has earned the name “killer bee” due to its more aggressive nature. A honey bee will have to make about 1600 trips to collect nectar in order to make one ounce (28 gm) of honey.
Although bee stings can be painful, most people only have a mild reaction to being stung. However, for those that are allergic to bee stings, being stung can potentially be fatal. As mentioned above, bees that are swarming are generally not aggressive; however, bees will often use vents in buildings as a new hive location which can not only cause damage to the building but can be a safety issue with the potential to be
Sometimes a bee hive can be claimed by a beekeeper. However, in most cases, the bee hive is located in a position where this isn’t possible, in these cases the colony needs to be destroyed. Once the colony has been destroyed the area is thoroughly cleansed with a detergent to discourage further infestation.
A bee removal team may move the hive off the premises before destroying it.
Please ask us about our Perth Total Extermination Plan which offers ‘on-demand’ protective services for specified pests in all areas inside and outside of your home. For termite inspections in Perth telephone:(08) 9313 2871 or email: info@pestcontrolperth.info for more information about bee control.
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