About Eli the Bee Guy
Need emergency bee removal? Call or text (626) 487-6052
I’m Eli, and Eli the Bee Guy is my business. Bee removal is the work I’ve built my life around, and I take it personally.
I work for homeowners, businesses and cities across Orange County, the Inland Empire and LA County, out of my home base in Ontario. What I do is live bee removal and relocation: I take the whole colony out, comb and all, seal the spot they got in through, and move the bees to a beekeeper who wants them.
Bees belong out in nature, and I’d rather move them there than leave them in your walls. I’m on the LA County Agricultural Commissioner’s list of live honey bee removal providers, and I film every job before and after so you can see exactly what came out of your house.
Built From Real Beekeeping Experience
I was keeping bees long before I ever thought of it as a business.
I started working with bees as a teenager and ended up managing over 100 active hives. That’s where I learned how a colony behaves, how it builds comb and what it needs to survive. I’ve got over 15 years of hands-on beekeeping behind me now, and most pest control companies just don’t have that kind of experience with bees.
A lot of companies exterminate. I relocate. I don’t spray chemicals; I use methods that are safe for the bees and eco-friendly for your yard. And I’m not a franchise, so you won’t be treated like a number. I deal with my customers the way I’d deal with a neighbor.
Trained by the People Who Started This Trade
I learned structural bee removal from Ron O’Brien at Bee Specialist, the company I credit with starting the live bee removal industry. Ron taught me to treat every wall and roof like it was my own house: find the comb, get all of it, and leave the place sealed so the bees don’t come back.
Ron covers Ventura County, and I cover everything from LA County east. If you’re in Ventura County, call him. I wrote more about him on my bee removal specialist page.
Firefighter training and a builder’s hands
Alongside the bees, I went through a Rio Hondo College fire academy program at the Santa Fe Springs Regional Fire Training Center. I’m a Certified Firefighter 1 and trained in EMT, hazmat, confined spaces, wildland fire and low-angle rope rescue (LARRO).
That training is a big part of how I work. A lot of bee jobs are up on a roof, inside a crawl space or two stories up a tree, sometimes with a defensive colony and people nearby. I know how to set up a job so nobody gets hurt.
My first job was with a company building homes from the ground up, and I’ve done kitchens, flooring and roofing myself. So when I open a wall or lift roof tiles to get to a hive, I know how it goes back together. The repairs I do afterward are patches, not rebuilds, and I’ll tell you up front what to expect.
How I do the job
- No pesticides. Honey bees go to a beekeeper alive, and I don’t use poison on wasps or yellow jackets either, because it ends up hurting pets, birds and everything else around your house.
- All of the comb comes out. Honey left in a wall melts, rots and draws the next swarm.
- Structural removals come with a 6-month guarantee that the bees won’t come back.
- I still take the hard jobs other companies pass on: cell towers, commercial buildings, high-rises and big structural hives.
In February 2023 I also wrote a letter to the State of California supporting funding for UC Riverside’s entomology department, because the people who study bees matter to the people who save them.
For friendly, efficient bee, wasp and yellow jacket removal, call Eli the Bee Guy.
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Where I work
Orange County, the Inland Empire up to Apple Valley, and LA County. I’ll drive about 50 miles for a job.
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Where the bees go
I rehome every colony with beekeepers I pick by hand, people who know how to care for a hive so it keeps going.
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When I’m available
Removals Monday through Saturday. I answer calls and texts seven days a week at (626) 487-6052.
From the field
