Honey bee swarm and colony removal
There is a difference between honey bee swarms and a resident honey bee
colony.
Let's establish what you have!
The honey bee swarm.
A honey bee swarm is formed from one queen bee and a number of worker
bees. They have no established home or nest. A swarm can arrive in your
garden almost out of thin air. There are no warning signs to look for.
They can also disappear almost as quickly as they arrived. Generally a
swarm will land on a branch or sometimes on the side of a building. The
queen will be in the middle of the swarm. At this time the bees are homeless
and are looking for a suitable place to set up home.
If you find yourself with a swarm and want it removed, for North Hampshire
please visit Andover
Beekeepers Association
Or call Paul Sweet on 01264 720 408
For South East Hampshire visit Fareham
bee association, free honey bee swarm collection
When bees swarm in this fashion, they have no home or nest to protect
or defend and are generally happy! So, they are at their least likely
to sting. However, as with all potential stinging insects, it is better
not to interfere with them without the correct protective clothing.
The honey bee colony.
A honey bee colony is an established nest of bees that have a working honey comb with stores of honey and young bees. Honey bees can and frequently do nest in buildings. Roof spaces and cavity walls are favourite places for them to establish a working honey comb. The comb is made by the bees from wax, and has two functions. The obvious function of the honey comb is of course to store honey, the stores are placed into the comb and when ready the bees cap the individual cells off to keep the honey fresh and to stop it drying out and hardening off, this honey is then used in hard times of food shortage and over winter. The second function of the honey comb is to provide somewhere for the queen to lay her eggs and also to provide a nursery for the young bee larvae. When a comb has been built in a house, even if the original builders have gone, it is a potential attractant to other bees. The smell of the honey stores and also the beeswax can draw swarms from some distance away. If you wonder why you get a swarm of bees turn up every year, or you appear to have bees nesting each year, it is likely you have a honey comb present on your property. It is important to note that bees do not hibernate in the same fashion as wasps. They store food to keep them going over winter. So a colony can remain active in the same place year after year. Over the winter you may not see the bees outside as it is too cold for them to fly, but they will still be alive and huddled in the warm waiting for spring.
Removal of bee swarms.
If you have a bee swarm, do not panic, get in touch with the andover
beekeepers association and they will arrange to come out and collect the
swarm and remove it. The whole operation is fairly quick and fuss free!
Paul Sweet also collects honey bee swarms in the Andover, Basingstoke
and Winchester areas
All swarms are rehomed with local beekeepers!
A swarm being rehomed!
Removal of honey bee colonies.
Hampshire Wasp Control no longer removes Honey bee colonies!
Treating honey bee colonies.
Hampshire Wasp Control no longer treats Honey bee colonies!
Please note:
We do not treat bumble bees.
We do not treat mining bees (they have no sting and are harmless)
We do not treat masonary bees. If you have masonary bees, you will need
to have your brickwork re-pointed by a builder.