Greetings, Fellow Beekeepers, Domestic and Abroad:

No free bee-rescue operation for me, either.  

Some might recall that I keep ferals and their survivors, only. 
Occasionally, depending on the distance and time-consumed, I have started to
charge even swarm-rescue, especially those non-residential ones, such as
bank or other business, as Grant and Mike list excellent reasons not to do
free bee-rescue.  (I use the word “rescue” deliberately here, for that’s
what I do, never simply remove or kill, as they become my liability once
removed).  No, I do not believe I am just another “environmentalist, trying
to save the planet.”

When I first read the plea, for me, the real red flag was the weasel word
“free,” claiming a dubious ownership of the bees since they are in the wall
of the house owned by the homeowner.  But can s/he really claim the bees are
hers/his?    Giving something free, for me, means a complete ownership of
the thing, live or dead, by the alleged proprietor; in other words, if the
homeowner really wants to give me the bees “free,” s/he should have a
complete ownership of the bees.  Not only does s/he possess the bees but
they should also be able to *dispossess* them at will, such as bees in the
birdhouses or in abandoned boxes.  When the homeowner cannot exercise both
rights—-own and disown at will-—s/he does not possess the bees; they are not
his/hers at all.  Why not claim the ownership of the bees visiting your
flowerbed?  Do you also own those migratory birds on your pond?

Instead, those bees are infestation, just like roaches, termites, and fire
ants, requiring a professional removal/rescue service.

If you really own these bees, why would you put them inside your wall in the
first place?  If you own these bees why would you put them inside your
birdhouse?  What were you thinking?! Granted that you did not mean to put
them where they are, since you own them, can you put them in—-by taking down
the walls and the combs and the honey and the brood and the bees, on the
combs and in the air, in a moveable box—-so that I can take them home really
free?

Yoon

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