Mega Bee Buzzing into the Pest Control Industry

MIAMI - While bees are natural pollinators and a lifeline for the agricultural industry, they can present challenges to pest management professionals (PMPs) faced with having to remove beehives from a home or commercial building. Many companies refer these services elsewhere or partner with beekeepers.

But finding professional beekeepers to work with PMPs and customers to take care of beehives can also prove difficult.

Jean Loui Navarro, president of Miami-based Mega Bee Rescues, offers a solution for this issue.

© Mega Bee Rescues 

Jean Loui Navarro

Navarro started learning about bee removal by working with his father, Marco, who started Mega Bee Termite & Pest Control in 2011. Through inspiration from watching his father, Navarro decided to start his own business in 2020 while keeping it under the family’s Mega Bee name.

Navarro said his approach is working with PMPs to treat and remove beehives in an environmentally friendly way.

“Bees are the main pollinator and the No. 1 resource for pollination throughout the nation,” he said. “They’re essential in regard to the ecosystem.”

Being willing to help save bee populations provides Navarro with a unique opportunity, one very different from most pest control companies, and a different “way into the industry.”

“Many pest control operators don’t touch bees for the liability,” Navarro said. “They don’t want to do that, so we’ll take that work all day.”

The company also provides education to other pest control companies on the importance of keeping bee populations safe and thriving for a well-rounded environment.

“Even if I can’t help you physically, I’ll be more than honored to help you remotely,” Navarro said. “We [educate] PMPs to be able to know how to proceed with the removal.”

Navarro also presents at the University of Florida’s Bee College on bee removal education to bring more awareness to the growing issue. As Navarro’s passion for bees grew, he has been able to inspire others to share the same drive for this line of work.

“The more I learned about bees and the more fascinated I was by them, the more confident [my team] felt,” Navarro said. “This is what we love, what we mastered. We like being seen as the people that take on big work within bee rescue.”

Navarro said that rescuing bees also provides various revenue streams that go beyond pest control, such as honey production, wax selling and commercial pollination.

“There are people who will rent your bees, people that are in need of pollinators,” Navarro said. “We can provide bees to farmers or owners of land that need bees to supply their demand of processing their goods.”

BRANCHING OUT. Since he separated from his father, Navarro said his business and team are starting to make a name for themselves.

“[Our employees] are all individual beekeepers in Florida,” Navarro said. “There are four trucks on the road and one admin, and she does everything in regard to scheduling, clients and inbounding calls. The team then physically goes out and does the inspections and removals.”

Social media marketing, Navarro said, has also proven to be successful in the expansion of the company.

© Mega Bee Rescues

“We have a team that comes out with us in the field to get the content of what we do,” Navarro said. “That’s how we’re able to visually market ourselves for the homeowners and business owners.”

Navarro said his goal is to expand throughout Florida and eventually, along the East coast.

“Slowly but steadily each year, the whole objective is to grow,” Navarro said. “If I’m able to work through other states, either training, consulting or doing removals, I would love that. It’s something I enjoy.”