First of all, make sure that they are honey bees and not wasps or bumblebees using the information below:
Honey bees are the bees that us beekeepers keep!! They live in large perennial colonies and have long been managed by beekeepers as they produce a surplus of honey and the beeswax is highly prized. Swarming is a natural process the bees undertake in order to reproduce as a colony. So a swarm is simply part of a bee colony looking for a new home – it has no aggressive intent at all. During the process of swarming, bees usually cluster together on a tree branch, fence, posts or something similar. At this stage, they can often be relatively easily re-homed by a beekeeper.
If you think you have a swarm of honey bees please contact our Swarm co-ordinator, Daniel McGarva or call 07719 439416 who will put you in touch with one of our members. It is also useful if you can take a photograph and send it to Daniel so he knows what to expect. Our members can only help with honey bees.
The Common wasp is found throughout the UK. They eat flies, aphids, caterpillars and other invertebrates, making them an important insect-controlling predator and are important pollinators. There are approximately 9,000 species of wasp in the UK but only nine species are social wasps which form large nests, the majority are solitary and cause no upset to humans.
For more information on wasps go to Buglife
Bumble bees are familiar and much-loved insects that pollinate our crops and wildflowers. Small colonies live through the summer months with only the queen overwintering. They are usually very docile, rarely a nuisance and usually best left alone.
For more information about bumblebees go to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Solitary bees are amazingly effective pollinators and as the name suggests tend not to live in colonies like bumblebees and honey bees. In the UK we have around 270 species of bee, just under 250 of which are solitary bees.
For more information on solitary bees go to Wildlife Trusts
If you think you have a swarm of honey bees please contact our Swarm co-ordinator, Daniel McGarva on dmcgarva12@hotmail.com or 07719 439416 who will put you in touch with one of our members. It is also useful if you can take a photograph and send it to Daniel so he knows what to expect. Our members can only help with honey bees.
They will then assess the situation and decide if they are able to collect the bees safely. Sometimes colonies of bees can be in roofs, chimneys or other difficult to reach places and are not possible to remove. If this is the case and they are a danger to you or your neighbours then you may need to call in a local pest controller.