Found a Swarm of Bees? Here’s What to Do...

Finding several thousand bees suddenly clustered on a tree, fence, shed or garden furniture can be quite a surprise. One day there is nothing there and the next there is a football-sized mass of bees hanging from a branch, with more flying around it.

It certainly looks dramatic, but if you are looking at a swarm of honey bees, what you are witnessing is one of the most remarkable parts of their natural life cycle. The bees have not necessarily chosen that spot as their new home.

Very often, they are simply stopping there temporarily while scout bees search the surrounding area for somewhere more permanent to live.

For the householder, the most useful thing to do at this stage is usually very simple: keep a sensible distance, leave the bees undisturbed and contact somebody who knows how to deal with a swarm.

Why do honey bees swarm?

Swarming is the natural way in which a honey bee colony reproduces at colony level. As an established colony grows, particularly during spring and early summer, it may reach the point at which part of the colony leaves with the old queen to establish a new home elsewhere.

Thousands of worker bees can leave together, creating the familiar cloud of bees that people sometimes see moving through the air. Eventually, the queen lands and the workers gather around her, producing the dense cluster we recognise as a swarm.

Meanwhile, scout bees investigate possible new homes. They may explore hollow trees, cavities in buildings and other sheltered spaces before the swarm eventually moves on to its chosen location.

This means a cluster hanging from an apple tree is not necessarily building a nest there. It may remain for only a few hours, although some swarms stay considerably longer.

From Tristan’s Notebook

When somebody rings and says, “I’ve got thousands of bees in my tree,” the first thing I want to establish is what they are actually looking at. A swarm clustered on a branch is very different from a colony that has been living inside a wall for months. The bees may be the same, but the job certainly isn’t.

Are swarming bees dangerous?

A newly settled swarm can look intimidating, but honey bees in this situation are generally focused on staying with the queen and finding a new home rather than defending the temporary place where they have landed.

That does not mean they should be handled by somebody without experience. Bees can sting, individuals may have serious allergies to bee venom, and disturbing a swarm unnecessarily can create a problem where there was not one before.

Keep children and pets away from the immediate area and avoid spraying the bees, throwing water over them, poking the cluster or trying to knock it into a container yourself. There is also no need to start experimenting with smoke, household chemicals or homemade repellents.

Give them space and seek advice.

Is it definitely a swarm of honey bees?

Before arranging collection, it is important to identify what you have found.

Honey bee swarms typically consist of a large number of bees gathered closely together, often forming a hanging cluster. They may settle on a branch, hedge, fence post, wall, chimney or almost any other convenient temporary surface.

Bumblebees behave differently and commonly establish much smaller colonies in places such as bird boxes, compost heaps, roof spaces and holes in the ground. Wasps can also be mistaken for bees, particularly when people notice insects repeatedly entering and leaving a hole in a building.

A clear photograph taken from a safe distance can be extremely useful when contacting a beekeeper. It allows them to identify the insects and understand the location before deciding what needs to happen next.

Why timing matters

A swarm hanging somewhere accessible can often be collected relatively straightforwardly by an experienced beekeeper. Once it moves into a chimney, roof space, cavity wall or another inaccessible structure, the situation becomes considerably more complicated.

There is another reason not to leave the phone call until several days later. The swarm may simply leave.

Scout bees are actively searching for a permanent home while the cluster waits. Once they have reached a decision, the entire swarm can take to the air again and disappear surprisingly quickly.

If you would like somebody to collect it, making contact while the bees are still clustered and accessible gives the beekeeper the best opportunity to help.

What happens when a beekeeper collects a swarm?

The precise method depends entirely on where the bees have landed.

When a swarm is reasonably low and accessible, the beekeeper will usually aim to get the queen and the bulk of the bees safely into a suitable box or hive. Once the queen is inside, the behaviour of the remaining bees often changes quite noticeably as they begin joining her.

The beekeeper may then leave the container in position for a period to allow flying bees to gather with the rest of the colony before it is moved.

Not every swarm is straightforward. A cluster high in a tree, over water, on an unstable structure or somewhere requiring specialist access equipment may not be safely collectible. A responsible beekeeper will assess both the bees and the location rather than attempting a risky retrieval simply because a swarm is present.

From Tristan’s Notebook

People sometimes expect swarm collection to involve turning up, scooping the bees into a box and driving away. Occasionally it really is almost that simple. Other times the bees have chosen the highest branch of the least accessible tree they could possibly find. The first question is always whether the swarm can be reached safely.

A swarm and an established colony are not the same problem

This distinction is particularly important.

A visible cluster that has recently arrived is a swarm. A colony that has moved into a wall, chimney, roof or other cavity and begun building comb is an established colony, and dealing with it may require a very different approach.

Once honey bees are established within a building, simply blocking their entrance is not an appropriate solution. Bees, brood, wax and stores may remain inside the cavity, and preventing the bees from using their normal entrance does not remove the colony.

Some established colonies can be removed and relocated, but the feasibility depends on the structure, accessibility and how long the bees have been there. Building work or specialist access may sometimes be required, which is why accurate information at the outset is so important.

Please don't try to persuade them to leave

The internet contains plenty of suggestions for getting rid of bees using essential oils, sprays, smoke and various household concoctions. These are not sensible substitutes for proper swarm collection.

A temporary swarm may leave naturally once the scouts have selected a new home, but deliberately disturbing it in an attempt to make that happen can scatter or agitate the bees without solving anything.

If the swarm is somewhere completely out of the way and presents no problem, observing it from a respectful distance can be fascinating. If it needs to be moved, contact an experienced beekeeper.

Can you prevent swarms arriving on your property?

Not really. A swarm is searching for somewhere to live and its temporary stopping point may simply happen to be your garden.

What property owners can sensibly do is pay attention to potential entrances into buildings. Gaps around roofs, soffits, chimneys and wall cavities can offer attractive permanent nesting sites, although any work to seal potential access points should obviously be carried out when you are certain bees are not already using them.

Bins, fallen fruit and garden flowers are not the reason a honey bee swarm has arrived, and removing flowering plants to discourage bees would achieve very little. Bees naturally forage across a wide area, and a garden full of flowers is not equivalent to providing them with somewhere to establish a colony.

What information does a swarm collector need?

If you contact Norfolk Bees about a swarm, providing a few details at the beginning can save considerable time. A photograph is particularly useful, together with an approximate idea of the size of the cluster and how high it is from the ground.

It also helps to explain exactly where the bees are located, when you first noticed them and whether they are hanging visibly in a cluster or repeatedly entering a hole or cavity.

Those details can quickly establish whether this is likely to be a recently arrived swarm, an established colony or possibly another species altogether.

Swarm collection across Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire

Norfolk Bees provides swarm collection and bee relocation assistance across Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, subject to location, accessibility and the circumstances of the colony.

If you discover what appears to be a swarm, there is no need to panic and there is usually no need to interfere with it. Keep a sensible distance, take a photograph if you can do so safely and contact Tristan with the details.

For the bees, swarming is not an emergency. It is simply the beginning of another colony.

For the person who has just discovered 20,000 unexpected visitors hanging from the apple tree, however, having an experienced beekeeper at the end of the phone can be rather reassuring.