If You Find Bees in the Public Right-of-Way...

If you find a bee hive or swarm in the City of Santa Barbara public right-of-way (ROW), please call Vector Control at (805) 564-5596 to report the location, or send an email to RAparicio@SantaBarbaraCA.gov.

If you find bees inside a City water meter box, please call Meter Services at (805) 897-2516.

We will send professional beekeepers to assess the situation, and will safely remove and relocate the bees if they are in a location that is dangerous to the public. As an official Bee City USA, it is City policy to save bees and not to exterminate them; the use of pesticides for City bee removal is not allowed.

Call Vector Control about a bee hive or swarm:

What is the right-of-way?

Examples of the public right-of-way include city streets, sidewalks, median strips, and street trees and bushes.

What about private property?

For bees on private property, we recommend you call the Mosquito and Vector Management District at (805) 969-5050 or send them a message through their website. They'll give you a list of beekeepers who relocate bees.