Swarm Advice

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Swarms Advice

If you have a problem with a swarm of bees, or suspect there is a swarm of bees on your property or nearby please help protect the UK's declining honey population by reading our swarms page.

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KBKA Committee Roles and Responsibilities
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KBKA Committee Roles and Responsibilities
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If you find a swarm of honey bees please don't destory it unless it is an emergency. Members of the KBKA are generally willing to remove any accessible swarm of honey bees that you find on your property (or in a public place).

A swarm of honey bees on a fence	A swarm in a tree

Check for Wasps and Bumblebees first

First please check that your swarm is actually a swarm of honey bees.

Sometimes people confuse wasps and bumble bees with honey bees. Please check the BBKA swarms help (opens in a new webpage) for advice on the difference between honey bees, wasps and bumble bees.

A swarm of bees will usually arrive as a "cloud of bees" with a loud buzzing and will settle "as a ball" on a tree, post or wall (see pictures below). Once a swarm settles although there will be bees flying too and from the swarm they will generally remain as a ball for a number of hours.

(If you compare the pictures (above) of swarms that have settled you will see the swarm is just a big ball of honey bees, where as the wasps nest (picture on the right) is a paper like structure with the wasps inside (and two the outside))

A wasp's nest in a shed (Cherhill)

KBKA Swarm Coordinators

The following members of the KBKA will help you find a local bee keeper to deal with any swarm of bees:

Kim Seward 01672 861106
Terry Cooke 07779-945326
Philippa Luscombe 01249 814910
Fee Robinson 07966-362850
Jeremy Pack 07813-788614
Bob Lytton 01249 740740
Leon Moon 07877 555 385 (North M4, Badmington/ Luckington)

To ensure any swarm is preserved please contact any of the above as soon as possible. (As swarms can move on, move to more inaccessible places, or get destroyed by rain.)

For swarms outside of our area:

In Wiltshire look at: http://www.wiltshirebeekeepers.org.uk/Reort%20a%20Swarm.php

Nationally: Check the listing on the BBKA website: http://www.britishbee.org.uk/swarm_collection.php

Notes for KBKA Swarm collectors

The list of club members willing to give a home to a swarm is in the files section of the club website in wantsbeeslist.doc

Dealing with Wasps

Members of the KBKA are unable to destory wasp's nests. If you have a problem with wasps, we suggest you look at the advice on wasps on the Wilthshire Council website (http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/environmentandplanning/publicprotection/pestcontrol/pestcontrolwasps.htm) or look for "Pest Control Services" in the yellow pages (yell.com). Wiltshire Pest Control (07851-406475, 01249 818934) covers the club's area.

Bumblebees

British bumblebees, although able to sting, are generally harmless unless they feel threatened. Their nests generally do not contain large numbers of bees. (Unlike wasps or honey bees). If you have a bumblebee nest in your garden or house, unless it is somewhere that conflicts with children or pets, with British bumble bees in decline, you should consider leaving it alone. Generally bumble nests are only used for one summer. You can read more about bumblebees on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumble_bee. The bumble bee conservation trust has a guide to identifying bumble bees and more information.

If you consider it must be destroyed (as rule they can't be moved) we suggest you follow the advice given for wasps (including contacting Wiltshire Pest Control 07851-406475, 01249 818934). Members of the KBKA are not able to deal with bumble bee nests.

Bumble Bees