Honey Bee
Beneficial pollinators that become a structural problem when a swarm establishes a hive inside a wall or soffit.
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) is a moderate-concern pest in Florida homes and yards. Rhino Pest Management provides bee & wasp removal in Florida's Treasure & Space Coast — licensed (#JB242881) & insured technicians, rated 5.0★ from 16 Google reviews. Estimates are free: (772) 589-6842.
Photo: Scott Bauer, USDA Agricultural Research Service (Public domain) · Wikimedia Commons
About 15 mm, golden-brown with black banding and an amber-hazel abdomen. Covered in branched hairs that carry pollen. Swarms appear as a dense, buzzing mass of thousands of bees clustered on a branch or structure.
Swarms are transient, resting while scouts find a cavity. Established colonies prefer wall voids, hollow trees, chimneys, soffits and attics with easy flight access.
- A swarm — a large cluster of bees on a tree branch, post or wall
- Bees flying in and out of a gap in a wall, soffit, chimney or utility penetration
- Honey or wax staining on walls months after bees establish inside a void
- A low hum from inside a wall or eave cavity
A swarm in flight is generally calm. An established colony inside a wall will defend its hive aggressively if disturbed, and the wax and honey left behind after removal can cause structural damage and attract other pests. Africanized honey bee populations in Florida can respond more aggressively.
Is this urgent?
Not an emergency, but don't sit on it. Honey Bee establishes indoors and gets harder — and slower — to clear the longer the colony has to spread. Treated early it's a routine visit; left for a season it usually takes more than one.
Rhino refers honey bee colonies to a licensed beekeeper for live removal and relocation — we do not exterminate honey bees. We handle the structural sealing of the entry point after the colony is removed to prevent re-colonization.
Our Bee & Wasp Removal serviceMore stinging insects
Aggressive ground-nesting wasps that sting repeatedly and defend nests violently.
ViewLong-legged brown-and-yellow wasps that build open umbrella nests under eaves and furniture.
ViewSolitary wasps that build mud tube nests on walls and pack them with paralyzed spiders.
ViewScientific source
For the biology behind this page, the University of Florida's IFAS Extension publishes a detailed Featured Creatures profile of this species — free to read, and written by entomologists in this state:
European Honey Bee Apis mellifera Linnaeus and subspecies — UF/IFAS Extension