GOLD STAR HONEYBEES offers the following services.
Our Beekeeping Service - available throughout most of eight counties in Maine, is for folks who would like to have bees, but don't necessarily want to be their own beekeeper. If you aren't sure whether you want to be your own beekeeper, we can show you how easy it is - by becoming involved in our "Mentor Program".
Our Bee ID Service - we are happy to help you discover whether what you've got is honey bees or not. Your digital camera or cell phone is our friend here. We are happy to visit your site in person if need be, but that costs money - pictures are free!
Our Swarm Collection Service is also available throughout most of eight counties in Maine. We work to make it a point to be "on the ready" to collect a swarm of honeybees at a moments' notice, should you discover one clustered near your property. It's important to try to quickly relocate a loose swarm of bees into a cavity where they are welcome - i.e. a Gold Star Top Bar Hive in our case - because there's a certain amount of risk that they may choose a nearby building to start building their nest. And that's a problem of a completely different dimension.
Our Live Bee Relocation Service - which we offer throughout New England, saves bees from destruction by opening the building they are inhabiting and moving their nest into a Gold Star Top Bar Hive. We have the specialized tools and safety equipment to do this kind of work, and insurance to boot. A colony of bees nesting in a building can be problematic for several important reasons. First, as long as the bees are alive in the colony, they are, by their very presence, regulating the temperature of the nest - the baby bees, the honey, and the wax. If the bees are killed by spraying, this can allow the space to overheat without them, melting the wax and causing it to collapse and break open. This can cause honey to run and drip - sometimes through walls and ceilings, and this - can attract other critters. Yes, it's a mess. When we remove a colony we do everything we can to remove all of the nest and leave the space uninhabitable for bees in future.