People can check if what they have seen is a swarm of honey bees or not by going to its website: Around three quarters of calls to the British Beekeepers Association are actually about wasps’ nests, bumble bee sightings, or other flying insects and this confusion is quite an issue for the BBKA, a small charity run mainly by volunteers. If left to their own devices they may choose to set up home in the nearest convenient spot which could be a chimney or other inaccessible place.Ī further issue relating to swarms is that people mistake groups of other types of bees or wasps for honey bees. As long as the swarm is not provoked it will not do you any harm but it is important that they be collected by an experienced beekeeper. And while a third said that they ‘would do nothing’, others confessed that they would ‘run like hell’ or ‘scream’. A recent survey of over 2,000 adults in the UK suggests that over a quarter, 28 per cent, of respondents would be ‘worried’ if they saw a swarm, and a further quarter would be ‘terrified’. More information is available on the BBKA website.ĭespite greater awareness by the public of the huge contribution honey bees make to our food supplies through pollination, not to mention the honey they produce, a swarm of bees still has the propensity to scare. The public can help by contacting a beekeeper through the BBKA’s Swarm Watch Hotline by calling 07896 751205. Swarms left uncollected are unlikely to survive, which means lost honey production but even more importantly, fewer of these hard working insects to pollinate crops, including our favourite fruits and vegetables. With honey bee numbers under threat we can ill afford to lose swarms beekeepers are anxious to collect them and give them a new home in one of their empty hives.
In fact before leaving their hive the bees fill up their stomachs with honey and are rather mellow their sole intention is to find a new home to build-up a new colony. They are doing what honey bees do and are not remotely interested in humans. The public should not be alarmed if they see or come across a swarm of honey bees. Swarm season starts: bees just doing what comes naturally - Don’t Panic!Ĭome spring-time, honey bee colonies start to build-up their numbers and if they run out of space in their hive, they swarm.
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