Clause-by-clause checklist
Print the agreement and check each item. 1. Species. Honey bee, carpenter bee, bumble bee. If it says 'bees', ask which. 2. Location. Wall, side of house, height and a photo reference. 'Rear wall' is not enough on a house with two rear walls. 3. Method. Live cutout, trap-out, swarm collection, treatment, carpenter bee treatment. One of these words should appear. 4. Comb and honey. Removed, left in place or excluded. 5. Cleaning. Scraping, washing, deodorizing, insulation replacement. 6. Sealing. Which openings, what material. 7. Repair. Included, subcontracted or excluded, and the condition the site is left in. 8. Price. One line per item above, plus any access, disposal or travel charges. 9. Return visits. Period, trigger, cost. 10. Exclusions. Read every one and ask what each means in practice. 11. Relocation destination, if live removal matters to you. 12. Schedule and number of visits, especially for trap-outs. Count the items that are clear. Ten or more means you can sign with confidence. Fewer than seven means the agreement needs another draft.
What a good answer sounds like
When you call about a gap, listen for detail. On method: 'It is a cutout. We open the soffit, vacuum the bees into a box, cut out the comb and take the colony to our yard.' Not: 'We get rid of them.' On comb: 'Comb removal is line two, and if it runs past two bays we charge per additional bay at the rate shown.' Not: 'We take out what we can.' On repair: 'We close with primed plywood and leave it weatherproof. Finish siding is yours or we can quote it.' Not: 'We patch it up.' On return visits: 'If bees enter the same spot within 60 days and we sealed it, we come back at no charge. If you sealed it or they enter a new spot, it is a new job.' Not: 'We stand behind our work.' On carpenter bees: 'We counted 14 holes on the fascia and 6 on the deck rail. All are treated today and plugged in two weeks after emergence.' Not: 'We treat the whole house.' Write each answer beside the clause and ask for it to be added to the agreement before you sign.
Exclusions and change orders
Exclusions are where the surprises live. Common ones in bee agreements include: work above a certain height, roof or chimney access, removal of siding or stucco, replacement of insulation, disposal, painting, and 'unforeseen conditions'. None of these is unreasonable, but each should be priced or explained so you know what triggers it. Ask about 'unforeseen conditions' directly. A good answer is a rate: 'If the comb extends beyond the estimate we charge X per additional bay and we call before continuing.' A poor answer is 'we will let you know'. During the job, insist on a written change order for anything outside the scope, even a text message with the added item and price. Photographs of the reason help. Sign or acknowledge it before the extra work begins. After the work, compare the invoice to the agreement line by line. Anything not on the agreement or a change order is a fair question. Keep the agreement, change orders, photographs and invoice together. If bees return within the stated period, the return-visit clause is only useful if you can find it.
The research on bees in U.S. homes
Homeowners often ask whether a bee problem is unusual and whether a quoted price is normal. Public research cannot answer either question for one house, but it does set expectations. Here is what the sources report. When bees are cut out of a wall, the removal bill is only part of the story, and HomeAdvisor's June 2026 U.S. publisher estimate of $275 to $750 for drywall repair, a general figure rather than a bee-specific or quoted price, shows what to add. Thirty-six point three percent of 231 Italian eighth-grade students agreed or strongly agreed that they feel threatened by a honeybee, according to a 2024 study published in the journal Insects, a self-reported feeling among children abroad rather than a U.S. homeowner statistic. Seventy-five to $500 is HomeAdvisor's June 2026 U.S. publisher benchmark for bumblebee removal, the same range it gives for carpenter bees; it is an estimate with an undisclosed sample, not a company quote, and local prices differ. Three hundred to $1,000 is HomeAdvisor's June 2026 U.S. general estimate for ceiling repair after bee removal, a publisher benchmark for standard repair work rather than a measured bee-damage bill or a company quote, so local pricing will vary. Before spending a weekend with store-bought sprays, consider that 64% of DIY users in HomeTeam Pest Defense's 2022 online survey of U.S. homeowners said their problem was not fully solved, a self-reported figure from a provider-sponsored survey, not a success-rate study. Use these numbers as context, not as a diagnosis. A provider's written inspection findings should drive the treatment plan, and any quote should spell out how many visits, which areas and what follow-up it covers.