Ken Powers, the bee man

Lehigh Acres real estate agent Donna Cavendar says she has heard reports of a lot of bees in Lehigh Acres this late spring and summer and beekeeper Ken Powers of Naples agrees.

“I don’t know why, but we are seeing a larger number of bees in Southwest Florida, more than in some previous years,” Powers said.

He had been called to Lehigh to a home off of East Third St., where there were at least 100,000 bees. His job was to eliminate them.

In past years and up north, often beekeepers retained the bees and the honey. The queen bee is especially valuable because she starts new colonies and the bees are used to pollinate crops.

“But these bees down here now are becoming intermingled with the more aggressive African bees and we are finding diseases so the bees are of no value, and neither is the honey, Power said as he put on special clothing to prevent himself from being stung when he went after the bees that were building hives in the stucco wall of the car port of the home.

“We use very environmental friendly chemicals today to destroy the bees,” Powers said.

Now looking like an alien from another plant, Powers watched as hundreds of bees were going in and out of a small space under a board along the wall of the stucco home. He put his ear up to the walls on the other side of the car port.

“Can you hear that,” he asked. “The buzzing is very loud. There’s a lot of bees in there; let’s hope they have not gone into the ceiling of the carport.”

Power cut away at the stucco and inside between wooden studs, he found what he was looking for, thousands of bees with at least 20 pounds of honey.

With sprayer in hand, he aimed it at the bees and the honey and said it would kill the bees, their queen and the remaining bees on the outside would hang around maybe for a few hours and they leave and finally die.

Once he did his job, thousands and thousands of bees were eradicated and Powers said none of them tried to sting him.

“These were not as agitated as some bees I have encountered,” he said.

Power lives in Naples, but removes and eradicates bees all over Southwest Florida. He said the bees he had just eradicated had probably been in the hollow walls of the carport for maybe a year.

He has advice for homeowners who may be looking for places to swarm around your home or under the eaves and shingles.

“When you first begin to notice bees gathering, try to agitate them by spraying with any pest control or even using a water hose using the high pressure.

“They don’t like it where they are being bothered,” he laughed. “Sometimes, just shooting a lot of water up where you begin to find them gathering is enough for them to get the message and move on,” he said. “If they remain, they’re going to build a colony and honey and the dangers of being stung are always there for people living in the house or those walking nearby, he said.

He said he understands that bees up north are not as plentiful as they used to be … something to do with diseases, he said. But down here in Florida, there is no shortage of bees, he said.

Powers owns the firm The Bee Guys and he is at 8230 Collier Blvd. in Naples. His phone number is 239-774-7344.

He said his prices to eradicate bees ranges around $200 if there are as large a colony as was in Lehigh.

“But people should just keep their eyes open and if they see bees assembling, make them mad enough to leave by spraying water on them or other kinds of pest control sprays. It’s also a good idea to walk around your house and get rid of the wasp nests that are being formed this time of the year.