Found a bee swarm? Here's what to do

A swarm looks frightening, but swarming honeybees are some of the calmest bees you'll meet. Keep your distance and call a beekeeper.

In late spring and early summer, honeybee colonies split. The old queen leaves with thousands of workers to find a new home, and on the way they often rest in a cluster on a branch, fence or wall. That's a swarm.

Don't panic

Swarming bees have filled up on honey before leaving and have no home to defend. They're usually calm. Keep people and pets back, but there's no need to shut yourself indoors.

Check what you've got

• Honeybees: golden brown and furry, clustered in a hanging mass. These are the ones a beekeeper can collect.
• Bumblebees: large, round and fuzzy, living in small nests. They don't swarm and usually leave by late summer.
• Wasps: bright yellow and black, smooth and shiny. They need a pest controller, not a beekeeper.

What not to do

• Don't spray the bees with water or insecticide.
• Don't try to move them yourself.
• Don't block a hole they're going into. That can trap bees inside your walls.

Call a beekeeper

Swarms often move on within hours or a couple of days, sometimes into a chimney or wall cavity. Call us as soon as you see one. We'll collect it, rehome the bees in one of our managed hives, and tell you how to stop it happening again.