Central Oregon Landscaping & Construction LLC

BEES!

WE LOVE BEES!

We NEED bees! And right now, the bees need us!

There are many different types of native bees here in central Oregon, not including the honey bee. We love them all!

However, I understand not everyone is quite as passionate about all bees as some others...and that is OK... Please, just be sure that you are not assuming that the buzzing insect that you see and wish to get rid of ASAP is indeed a pesky wasp or an obnoxious yellow jacket and not actually a hardworking honey bee. There is a difference. Not only is it useful & helpful to know the difference (it can eliminate much fear & concern for you to know whats what as it's buzzing around you and through your garden) but it is also important too. Our bees are struggling right now & they need all the help they can get. Being accidentally sprayed or poisoned due to an error in identification is heartbreaking & can even doom the entire hive:(

If you are having an "issue" with bees in or around your home or garden, such as if perhaps you are lucky enough to spot a swarm or happen to have a swarm of bees stop and rest in your yard or on your property, please feel free to contact us.

I would be more than happy to come remove (and relocate) them for you!

A swarm is pretty easy to spot, it looks like a big ball of bees all huddled tightly together. They are usually not too defensive at this time, so please, don't panic, just give me a call:

(510) 684-5665

I will try to get right over to gather them up if you want them removed and re-homed.

If I am unable to come out at that time myself I will find another local beekeeper to help out and assist in collecting the swarm. We are always more than happy to help out (especially if we are able to collect & take home some bees!)

Please just be sure that what you are seeing are indeed honey bees and not yellow jackets or wasps.

Honey bees are not aggressive. They collect nectar & pollen from flowers & trees & work hard all throughout spring & summer. Wasps are aggressive & feed on other bugs (including bees) as well as your picnic lunch or that lovely evening dinner you were trying to enjoy. They are considered by most everyone (including bees! ) to be a pest that we would prefer to be without.

Honey bees have no interest in your meals (unless you are feasting on honey!) & for the most part have very little interest in you, unless of course you step on one or disturb an active hive. Even then its likely you will have some warnings to back away before you get yourself into too much trouble.

If you need help with identifying whether you are seeing wasps or bees we can try & help out with that too. There are some simple ways to ID them (google "the difference between yellow jacket vs honey bee" for a starting point) to tell them apart.

I have included several photos below to help out with identifying and differentiating the difference between our honey bees vs yellow jackets. Hope it helps!

(first two photos below are honey bees)

(above) Photo of a yellow jacket at one of our many hummingbird feeders. They are attracted (as often are the sweet honey bees as well...) by the sugar water in the feeders.

Wasps & yellow jackets are smoother (less fuzzy) than honey bees & can be aggressive without much provoking. We do not like wasps!

They cause many problems for us as well as harass (& kill) our bees. They are a nuisance. SETTING WASP & YELLOW JACKET TRAPS OUT NOW WILL HELP PREVENT MANY MORE FROM REACHING ADULTHOOD THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SEASON! Only the queens over winter so by setting traps out in the early spring you will be catching the queens and therefore preventing them for being able to build up an entire colony of wasps and yellow jackets throughout the rest of the season.