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
Paul charges a small fee of £20 for swarm collection.
Paul's area covers Salisbury, Andover, Basingstoke, Winchester, Fleet, Farnborough, Alton and all the villages inbetween.
Basingstoke area is also covered by basingstoke beekeepers which can be found here
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!
Please take a look at our video of a small honey bee swarm being walked into a hive
Removal of honey bee colonies.
Honey bee's setup home in the strangest of places, cavity walls, roofs, chimneys etc. Honey bees can sometimes be extracted using specialist equipment.
If you have a colony that you cannot live with and want them relocated, please call Paul on 01264 720 408 to discuss the best course of action.
Treating honey bee colonies.
Sometimes a swarm of honey bees will establish a new colony within a building, this can be someone's home, or other equally unsuitable place! If this happens and the colony decides to stay, if they cannot be extracted then sadly the only course of action is destroy them. We try every means possible to prevent the destruction of honey bee colonies, but sometimes it is the only answer.
If you have a swarm arrive and get into an awkward place, please give it a day or so before taking action, often they will decide to move on.
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 masonry bees, you will need to have your brickwork re-pointed by a builder.
Please be sure you have identified the species before calling us.
Due to a large number of false call outs in the past we now charge a call out fee of £35 for call outs to bumble bees, masonry bees or mining bees.