How To Deal With Bees In Your Home And Yard

Spring and summer are peak bee season, and if you find yourself with a hive or a swarm, you'll need some help dealing with it. Here's what you need to know:

1. Never try to deal with a hive by yourself: Believe it or not, bees aren't normally aggressive unless they feel like they're being attacked. If you see a swarm, calmly walk away from it. I know you want to run like hell, but some bees release an "alarm pheremone" that could cause other bees to swarm. Get inside a car or your house as quickly and calmly as you can.

2. Don't try to knock down a hive or spray a swarm with water: If the bees think they are under attack, they will react against you. Get away from the hive or swarm and let the professionals take care of the situation.

The most important thing to remember about bees is you don't want to anger them and get stung. The second most important thing to remember is bees are endangered. We need them to pollinate plants. Those little buzzers are responsible for almost one-third of the food we eat, things like wine and guacamole would become extinct without bees. Coffee needs bees to pollinate its plants. Imagine life without wine and guac and coffee. No, I won't!

Don't kill bees, call these companies in the El Paso and Las Cruces area for bee removal:

William Scott Anderson – (915) 504-9375 - Anderson has been raising bees since 1981 and often works with El Paso Electric because they sometimes get bees in their equipment.

Brad Kohler of Desert Oasis Pest Control - Kohler is in Las Cruces, so if you have a problem with bees in the City of the Crosses, check out his Facebook page link.

Bob Reneau with the Paseo del Norte Beekeeper's Association - I spoke with Bob on the phone and he said that if you have a swarm or a hive that need to be dealt with, call him at (915)833-7878. There are over 100 members of the Association in the El Paso area who can help deal with bee issues. He said that El Paso's bee population is a hybrid mix of Africanized and non-Africanized bees, so they can be aggressive. His advice? Stay away from the problem area and call him for help.