Bee Control Northwest, Inc Frequently Asked Questions

Saving bees is a good thing, but unfortunately, it’s not always feasible. We're an extermination company and don’t do live removals ourselves. It's getting harder and harder to find a beekeeper that is willing to do them because it's so time-consuming and messy. Most beekeepers that need bees can quickly and easily pick up a swarm with no mess at all. When we get calls about swarms, we have a list of beekeepers that can come out and pick them up for free. Due to this, the cost of live removals has risen to a point where in most cases extermination is chosen. If a beekeeper charges $500 to $1,000 to remove the bees, you then have the sticky honey cleaned up and have to have a contractor repair the area that was damaged by the beekeeper in order to get the bees out. Our experience has been to expect between $2,000 and $5,000 to remove bees alive. For most people, this is just not affordable. Our bee control and extermination services are typically in the $200 to $300 range.

Yes! Yellow jackets are typically the suspects in this situation, not bees. According to the US Geological Survey, over 4,000 types of bees can be found in the United States, so it's easy to get them confused! The yellow jacket has a mandible like a carpenter ant and can chew through sheetrock quite easily. Our response time for this type of problem is usually the same day. Contact us today to work with yellow jacket exterminators you can rely on!

If you’re up in the Portland, OR area, they're most likely not carpenter bees. Carpenter bees require a warmer climate and haven’t made it up this far. The furthest north they’ve been found so far has been Medford, OR. You may have some other type of solitary bee and most people don’t worry about them. They're harmless as they have no stinger, they're beneficial pollinators, and they typically only live two to three months before they’re gone. For more questions regarding bee control, don't hesitate to reach out!

These are a type of solitary bee referred to as alkali bees because they like alkali soil. To keep the bees from choosing your yard you can use a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen to change the soil and make it more acidic. It should only take a few applications. These bees are harmless, have no stinger, and only live for two to three months, so serious bee control services aren't always necessary.

Our bee control services do not pick up swarms of bees. However, we keep a list of local beekeepers and can put you in touch with one that can!

If what you see is an actual nest that looks like a paper-mache ball, and not just a mass of bees sitting on top of each other, then you have a hornet’s nest. This indicates a type of yellow jacket that needs to be eradicated. Our yellow jacket exterminators are prepared to help in this situation, so give us a call today!

Unfortunately, our bee control services do not include relocating bumble bees. Beekeepers do not keep bumble bees because the nests are significantly smaller, they do not make honey, and they do not hibernate through the winter like honeybees. They would need to be exterminated because if you try to move them, they'll just go back to the compost pile.

No, you can rest easy that these are not an issue in our area. They were sighted in a few places in Washington, however, bee control services took control of the situation and they didn’t make it into Oregon. 

Unfortunately, there is no quick and easy solution for wasps. If you use a spray, the sun, wind, and rain will wear away the chemical. It’s just a matter of walking around the house and keeping the nests knocked down. They often will rebuild, but if you do it a few times they typically get the idea that they can’t grow there and move on to somewhere else. If you still have concerns, contact us for bee control services today!

Bee Control Northwest, Inc has been working with bees and wasps in the Portland Metro area since 1975. If you're ready to work with experienced bee and yellow jacket exterminators in your area, give us a call today!