SAFE & ALIVE BEE REMOVAL

We called and we know it’s timing but they were at another job close to us. Within two hours they arrived and the job was complete.

Very well. Otto's crew arrived on schedule (a little early actually). They removed about 40#s of honey and most of the bees and the honey combs but did not get the queen on the first try. The process took about one hour. They left a bee box on the roof to further attract any strays or bees coming back from day work later. Then the fun began. My wife and I went out in the afternoon for about one hour. When we returned we found approx 300 bees "in the house". Fortunately their tendency is to try to escape so they were all in various clumps at windows that are very high in our entry way. So they weren't freely flying about the house. We called Otto quickly and he sent his crew back that afternoon and they were able to vacuum all of the bees out of the house. They are very careful about your house and belongings and spent a great deal of care to clean up their work.

I wasn't there, but my onsite manager, Debbie, said that they did a great job. They came on time and finished quickly.

Very impressive bee removal by Otto. Bees were a making hive under a hollow artificial decorative rock on an upper bank in our back yard. The queen was found and moved to Otto's wooden bee box and all the rest of the bees followed her. Otto came back in the evening to take the bees just like he said he would. It's been 3 months since their removal and no bees have returned. We are very pleased with the care and respect for the bees shown by Otto. We will have him out again if we have any more problems. So glad we found Safe & Alive on Angie's List.

Found an active bee hive at the far end of my very large yard in a stacked wood pile. Since I had a great experience with Safe and Alive in 2009, I called and left a message stating that it wasn't an emergency but wanted the hive removed in the next week or so. Otto called back the same evening, said he was booked for removals the next day but would call/come by between jobs. Came over the next afternoon, inspected the hive and showed me that the bees had relocated on their own probably because the location was too hot. He pulled out the wax to dispose of, then he and his assistant checked the rest of the yard for bee activity. Apparently, the bees have relocated in someone else's yard...... I asked Otto what I owed, he said something for gas would be enough! I paid him $30, well worth the 15 minutes and peace of mind! I would definitely use Safe and Alive Bee Removal again!

Mr. Otto Polanco showed up along with his son to move what I thought were two colonies of bees on our property. He arrived on time and was very nice and professional. I showed him where the bees gathered. We were concerned about the bees by our front door and near our backyard waterfall. He carefully searched our property (digging through bushes and carefully checking). He concluded that we did not have hives on our property; but our neighbors probably do. He educated us that the bee activity we are seeing is normal. They are attracted to the water and plants we have. Confirmed that they are harmless honey bees. He spent a considerable amount of time on our property, explained what was attracting them and traveled all the way out to Ramona. When I asked how much I owed him - He said no charge!!! Free estimates. The searching, time and education he provided was way over the level of an estimate. ,We sprinkled powdered cinnamon on the bushes by our front door (pintrest recommendation) that encouraged the bees to move to other nearby bushes. So we still have happy bees away from the areas people congregate. Will let all of our neighbors know that someone has a hive nearby and who to call if they want it removed. He went above and beyond. If you need bees removed, don't hesitate - call him. Also super quick response, less than 24 hours between first call and being at our doorstep.

This is not a very professional organization. They showed up at 8 am for a 1 pm appointment. Provided an estimate of the work for $750 with no explanation other than it would take from 4 hours to 2 days. The person I had do the work charged $165 and did it in 45 minutes. (In fairness, the Safe and Live estimate may have assumed live removal, while the person I contracted said live removal was not possible without taking most of the 10 foot high wall down.)

What a wonderful experience! Otto is really the bee whisperer! We found the hive today and Otto removed it gently and quickly. Same day service was so appreciated.

We did not use this service! Stop asking me to review!

This was the second time that we had to call someone to remove a bee hive. The first time was 2 years ago and it required 10 Yard bags FULL of honeycomb and dead bees to get rid of it. But they came back and this time we decided to be environmentally friendly and call Safe and Alive Bee Removal. I am located in Virginia Beach and had to find someone in San Diego FAST (Thank you Angie's List!) because we were in the middle of renting our house in La Jolla and the bee hive was preventing this from happening! I called them and they came to the house within 30 minutes and gave me an estimate and I approved them the same day to do the job. They started with smoking out the bees so they could find the queen. One hive was 2 foot x 3 foot and the other was 2 x 6 and they were full of bees and honeycomb. They spent 3 hours working (breaking apart the floor to access the hives) and then left the boxes out so that the worker bees could be captured and returned at night to retrieve the bees. This was a huge job and they were very efficient. After completing the job, they came by to the house and presented us with a jar of local honey! This is a great company with great service!

Otto is the and quot;Bee Whisperer!and quot; I called and they got here in :20 minutes. He fearlessly went right into the shed, scraped the honeycomb into a hive box and made sure the queen was there, too. (He searched until he found her and placed her in a plastic box with a sugar plug that she will eventually eat her way out of. Brilliant!) I'm not sure of the going rate for this service but for entertainment and piece of mind that I did the right thing, it was cheap. Plus I got a 6 month guarantee in case they come back to the same spot.

These guys were amazing and fun to watch!! Arrived on time and were very professional. They assessed the situation quickly gave me an estimate that was a quarter of the cost of another company. They offered to start the work right away. They cut a hole into the house (only way to get into the nest other than through the roof) relocated the bees to the bee bid and patched the house. They will be back for the bees on Monday night! These guys were awesome!

I had bees starting to build a home in one of the ventilation holes by the roof. I noticed it early enough where there wasn't a honey comb or hive yet. I called Otto and he answered right away. He showed up the day I after I called to give a free estimate. He showed up 10 minutes before the scheduled appointment. He gave me all the details of what the behavior of the bees were and the way he was going to remove it. He also gave details on what the best way to prevent them from coming back. He was very informative. He then smoked the bees out of the ventilation hole and then put new mesh into all the holes. He also sealed the areas where there were holes betwen the roof and the wall by those ventilation holes. It took him about 1 - 1/2 hours to do the work. He was very efficient. The price was reasonable as well. I would definitely hire him again.

As noted above, they performed as advertised. Very quick and professional and inexpensive, and the bees are alive and well outside of our living room!

He came in and got rid of the bees. They are awesome. They explain the procedure about how they catch the bees. They cleaned out the honey and cleaned everything up. They were very thorough. They did a great job.

It went very well; he was very helpful.

My renter called me on a Sunday afternoon to say bees were coming down the chimney and into the living room. The family have 5 children so I was concerned. I called several other companies but even after I left messages there was no response. Even though several of the companies promised immediate response and 24 hour call out service. My renters managed to cover the fireplace so the bees could not come into the house and decided to wait until Monday. Once again I tried different companies. For some their offices were not open and others couldn't send someone out until the next day. So, I went down the list and came to Safe and Alive Bee Removal. They came out immediately. I was unable to be at the house but they called me and told me they could take care of the bees and how much it would cost. I said great , they did the job, and mailed the bill to me. It was a very easy experience and I wish I had not had to go through all the others at the top of your list to find them!

They quoted a low price (compared to others), showed up precisely on time, did their work, and left. They were very quick and professional, and I'd use them again. I liked that they are a family business that relocates, not exterminates, the bees.

I had to call them call after teh first time and they came back and fixed it right away.

As other reviewers noted, the gentleman answering the phone was a little gruff. And they missed their appointment window by 10 or 15 minutes. Neither of these was a problem for us. When they arrived, we approved their proposed course of action including leaving the bee hive box for a few days. Before they left we paid them and they said they'd be back in a couple of days to retrieve the bee hive box. After two days came and went, I called, and they again promised to be out in a couple of days. After the second 2 days came and went we noticed the bee hive box was gone. That's the reason I didn't give them an A. Our back yard is fully fenced and the gates are always locked. The only way I can think of that they could have retrieved the box was to jump our fence. I would have preferred that they call first, and if we weren't going to be home, to ask permission to jump the fence to get their box. I am thankful our dogs were not outside at the time.

Perfect. Otto was absolutely great: courteous, informative and efficient. I am very, very pleased. The fact that he saves the bees is a real plus in a city that has a bee shortage.

This was an extremely positive experience from start to finish. Otto came to our house promptly to give us a written estimate of the job and made a thorough inspection of the bee-area and surroundings. He explained what he would do to remove the bees alive, as well as how he would clean and seal the area to prevent future bee settlements. He explained how he would gain entry to the nest from our roof, how he would protect the Italian tiles (or replace them, if broken) and how he would restore the roof, using tar paper, silicone sealant, etc. He answered our many questions with specific, satisfactory responses. His price, we believe, was reasonable, given the amount of time and skill needed to evict the bee colony and clean, seal and restore the roof opening. (We did consult another company listed on Angie's List and were given an estimate on the phone of more than twice as much money, and no guarantee that the bees would be saved.) He was immediately available to do the job. We set a date within a few days. He arrived on time, had all materials he needed, and set up his ladder in a safe, secure manner. He used care around our landscaping and house. Not a single roof tile was broken. He found the queen bee, confined her in a container that would allow the worker bees to enter and exit, and then placed that container in a larger bee-box. This box he left for about 24 hours on our roof, near the former bee hive, so the bees would be induced to relocate in the bee box. The bees were slow to find the bee box. Otto and his son returned the next day, brought the bee box closer to the bees that were mingling near their former hive and induced them into the box. He used smoke for about 15 minutes to move bees away from the eave. Bees were compliant and found their way into the box. Otto and his son both worked calmly and effectively. They appeared to have had extensive experience with bees as well as the structures in which bees nest. They cleaned up neatly and drove off with every bee safely situated in the bee box. We would definitely use this company again.

As mentioned above, Safe and Alive Bee Removal performed the work of removing the hive, and repairing the retainer wall in an excellent fashion. They explained that they would relocate the queen to a wooden box, and within 24 hours, the entire hive would follow. The box would then be removed. Due to very hot weather, some of the bees took a little longer to go in the box. So, when it cooled down, they returned to get the box and bees.

I had to wait my time in their queue, but it was worth the wait. Would use again.

I called Safe and Alive Bee Removal based on the reviews here on Angie's list. I felt that the response time was very quick. I was alittle taken back when Edgar answered the phone kind of abruptly and was slightly gruff with me. Maybe he was busy or working at that moment. All other conversations were cordial. He showed up at my house at the appointed time, examined the location of the hive and gave me the $200 price. My hive was located in a sprinkler valve box. He completely removed it and concealed the holes so that the bees cannot rebuild. One thing I didn't ask is where they relocate the hive to. He did fully describe how he would remove them tho. I don't feel that ay bees were hurt in the process.