Emergency Bee & Wasp Removal in Tempe, AZ

A swarm on the patio and bees pouring from a wall are two very different days. This page helps you sort out which one you have, keep people away from it, and get an honest answer about timing. It is part of our emergency pest control guide for Tempe homes.

What counts as a bee or wasp emergency?

Call 911 now if:

• Bees are actively stinging someone or chasing people.
• Someone is having trouble breathing after a sting.
• A person is trapped by bees and cannot get to shelter.

Call Kai as soon as you can if:

• A swarm or nest is at a doorway, gate, stairway or pool.
• Bees are coming and going from a wall, roof eave, shed or meter box.
• A wasp nest is near a play area, a garage door or the back door.
• Someone in the home may be allergic to stings.

This can wait for the next opening:

• A few bees drinking at the pool or birdbath, which University of Arizona Extension says should be left alone.
• A small nest well away from anywhere people go.

The sorting matters because of scale. Extension says a colony can reach 60,000 bees, while a swarm is on the move: Mesa's city guidance notes swarms often rest a few hours or days and then leave. A colony settled in a wall, valve box or shed has no reason to go, and steady traffic through one gap is the sign of it.

Bees attacking? What to do right now

Africanized honey bees are established in Arizona, and Extension says they defend their homes more readily than the bees people are used to. Assume any wild colony could be defensive. Here is Extension's guidance for an attack.

1. Run. Do not stop to fight them.
2. Get into a house or car as fast as you can.
3. Cover your head and face as you go, since bees target the head and eyes.
4. Do not swat or flail.
5. Stay out of water. Extension says bees may wait for you to come up for air.
6. If someone else is under attack, shout for them to run and call 911. Do not go in after them without a bee suit and training.

Once away, Extension says to get medical attention right away if you feel ill, may be allergic, or have more than 15 stings. Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 can advise on sting questions, and Tempe Fire Medical Rescue says 911 is the number for many stings or an allergic reaction.

Calm swarm, active nest: keep your distance

If nobody has been stung, your job is simple.

• Bring everyone inside, close windows and doors, and keep pets in.
• Do not spray, burn or hit the bees, and do not hose them.
• Do not start mowers or trimmers anywhere near them.
• Warn your neighbors, especially anyone sharing the wall.

Emergency bee removal in Tempe, AZ: how soon can Kai respond?

There is no fixed response time. He works alone, weekdays until 5 and Saturday mornings, and he will say straight out whether he can reach you today, tomorrow or later. A review from Sun Lakes credits him with immediate response in emergencies, and a long-term monthly customer mentions hornet help on a few occasions. Neither is a schedule. Call, and he will tell you what he has.

If he cannot reach you in time and the bees are in a place that puts people at risk, say so on the call, then decide with him whether to look elsewhere. Keeping people away matters more than who shows up. Tempe's code compliance pages also treat bees left to remain in hazardous numbers as a nuisance on the property, so do not ignore a colony just because it has been quiet.

What happens when he arrives

1. He looks from a distance first and asks where people go on the property.
2. He identifies what it is: resting swarm, established colony or wasp nest.
3. He explains the options, including where a colony sits inside a structure.
4. You agree on the work and the cost.
5. He does the job, following label directions for any product used.
6. He tells you when the area can be used again and what to do about the entry point.

Bee colonies inside walls or boxes are slower jobs than an exposed nest, and removing comb can be part of it, so ask what is included. If scorpions or rodents are part of the same call, see urgent scorpion treatment and emergency rodent removal in Tempe.

What bee or wasp removal includes

The exact work depends on what he finds, so scope gets set on site and agreed before anything starts.

• Identification: resting swarm, established colony, or wasp or hornet nest.
• Removal or treatment by the method that suits where it sits.
• Comb removal, if you agreed to it.
• Directions on when doors, gates and the yard can be used again.
• Advice on the entry point, so bees do not move back into the same cavity.

Two limits are worth hearing now. Opening stucco or drywall and closing it again is repair work, which may need another trade, so ask who handles that before the job begins. And nobody can make a defensive colony calm on request, which means people may need to stay well away for the length of the job. Sting questions stay with Poison Help at all times.

How is pricing discussed for urgent wasp nest removal?

Kekoa does not publish bee or wasp prices, so get a figure from Kai first. It generally comes down to:

• Whether bees are in the open or inside a wall, roof or box.
• Height and how hard the spot is to reach.
• The size of the colony or number of nests.
• Whether any structure must be opened up or closed afterward.
• Distance from Tempe.

Tempe specifics move the number too. A valve box in a front yard is a different reach from a second-story eave, and a tile roof takes more care than a fence line. A colony that has been in a wall for a season usually means more comb than a swarm that landed this morning. Rentals and HOA properties add the question of who authorizes the work and who pays, so settle that first. Wasp work is often simpler, but several nests or a hard-to-reach spot still change the job.

Who is responsible for a hive on your property?

Usually whoever controls the property. Tempe Fire Medical Rescue says not to call it to remove colonies or hives, and the city's code pages treat bees left in hazardous amounts as a nuisance on the property. Maricopa County Vector Control investigates feral bee complaints to find the responsible party, and it tells anyone with a swarm or colony on their own property to call a local pest control company. If the hive is on a neighbor's lot, that complaint route beats a can of spray over the wall.

University of Arizona Extension says colonies should be removed by a trained professional. The state rule is A.A.C. R3-8-201, under which the Arizona Department of Agriculture Pest Management Division licenses pest management businesses. You can look up any company on the state license search.

Why Kekoa for a bee emergency

• Bee removal, hornets and wasps all appear in Kekoa's customer reviews and service history.
• You speak to the man who will be standing in front of the hive, so what you hear is what will happen.
• Kekoa's Google description reads honest, reliable service with no sales gimmick.

Customers describe two habits that matter on a day like this: he is on time, and he explains what he is doing and how to prevent issues, so you know what to do about that gap after he leaves. Ratings stand at 5.0 from 54 Google reviews and 5.0 from 8 Yelp reviews, checked in November 2026.

Kai works from Tempe and also takes bee and wasp calls in Mesa, Gilbert and Sun Lakes.