Honey Bee Swarming!

 

The Honey Bee swarming season generally starts at the beggining of May and lasts till the end of July however swarms can happen outside of these months depending on the weather.

Please take time to identify the insects as honey bees before calling me, if you are not sure HERE is a handy reference to identify the bees.

** Update **

PLEASE DO NOT JUST CALL ME, take time to identify the bees by their number / location and what the look like.

As a general rule honey bee swarms will gather on trees or bushes and sometimes on walls.

If the bees you have seen are in a bird nesting box they are bumblebees!

If the bees you see are around the roofline of your house (guttering / sofit board) they are most likely bumblebees!

If they are nesting underground then they will either be mining bees / bumble bees or some other solitary bee.

 

Swarming is the natural reproduction cycle for bees where by the Queen and the majority of the flying bees leave the hive to find somewhere else to live and the remaining bees will produce a new queen to replace her. Although most beekeepers, myself included would prefer our bees not to swarm it is also an oppurtunity for local beekeepers to help the local community by collecting any swarms that are reported and therefore increasing their stock of bees.

Swarms generally leave the hive in warm / hot weather and in a lot of cases will settle initially in a tree or shrub.

The above are pictures of 3 of the swarms that I have attended to in the past. Swarms are not dangerous to people, most of the time the bees are just looking for a new home and are not concerned with people. Of course care should be taken to keep a safe distance from a swarm when it settles as although honey bees are not inherently agressive they will defend themselves if they feel threatened.

For removal of swarms in and around Barnsley.

To contact me please use the Contacts Page

If you are not in / around Barnsley try this link