AS SEEN ON CHANNEL 5's 'FILTHY BRITAIN S.O.S'
Honey Bee
Swarms
LOOKING TO REMOVE YOUR SWARM? - CALL NOW
WHAT TO DO IF A HONEY BEE SWARM HAS JUST ARRIVED. HOW WE DEAL WITH THE 4 MOST COMMON SWARMING HONEY BEE SCENARIOS -
SWARMING BEES - 4 COMMON SCENARIOS
1. HOW WE REMOVE OUTSIDE SWARMS
If a swarm of honey bees turns up in your garden, DON'T PANIC! Although it looks and sounds terrifying, when honey bees swarm they are actually in a state where they are very unlikely to sting anyone. This is because they have no young or honey to protect. If the swarm forms a large clump of bees in a tree, bush, or on a wall, hanging on a fence or even on the floor! (See below videos,) please don't spray them or do anything to harm them. Call us and we will come and collect the honey bee swarm. Usually we will need to make 2 visits in one day to collect a swarm. First visit to put the swarm into a nucleus hive, the second visit will be to collect the colony later the same day, when all of the foraging/scout bees are back in the hive. Sometimes, if the bees are behaving themselves, only one visit is required. As you can see in the videos below, this is no easy task, but saving bees is something we love to do.
HERE ARE SOME VIDEOS SHOWING A SELECTION OF DIFFERENT SWARM SITUATIONS -
2. WHAT IF THE SWARM HAS SETTLED SOMEWHERE FOR A FEW DAYS OR MORE?
It is always better to remove a swarm as soon as possible.
After two or three days the colony will start to build honeycomb. They can do this at a startling rate!
Every day they are in situ there is more and more honey comb that will need removing….as well as the bees themselves.
To remove the colony we need to remove the honeycomb and put the comb into hive frames that then go into a hive. Then we put the bees into the hive containing their honey comb and we have to wait for the rest of the colony to join them. To be sure we have the majority of the swarm/colony we will usually return later that day to collect the hive full of bees before transporting the hive and bees to our quarantine apiary.
As long as accessing the colony and the comb is a simple process, like in the video below (not if the bees are inside a chimney or cavity wall, where a building needs to be dismantled to get to them) it is usually fairly straightforward although a time consuming job, therefore we charge 2 visits for this service.
This colony had only been inside this compost bin for 7 days! Like we said earlier, they build at a startling rate!!!
LOOKING TO REMOVE YOUR SWARM? - CALL NOW
3. WHAT WE DO IF A SWARM IS IN YOUR CHIMNEY - CAN WE MOVE THEM?
If a bee swarm lands in your chimney and you are lucky, the bees may move on after an hour or two. If this doesn't happen within 24 hours, the bee colony will probably stay there for many, many years. And once established they become a huge and expensive problem to remove.
We have heard of all sorts of old wives tales, supposedly capable of moving a honey bee swarm... none of these, in our experience, actually work.
The Pest Interceptors have developed a special chemical designed to move the swarm on. It is time consuming, may involve drilling into chimney breasts or walls, and is not a guaranteed service. But if the colony stays, the price of trying this option/service will pale into insignificance to the cost of removing the colony once it is established. If you want us to try to move the colony, then sooner is better than later. Every hour that passes makes it less likely that they can be encouraged to move on, using our Secret Bee Moving Chemicals.
ACT NOW to move the bees out of the chimney, call 07393743137 immediately.
ACT NOW, because If the bees stay for more than 24 hours, then you have two choices -
1. Live with them. The colony will be in situ for many years, if not forever. It will send out new swarms once established, at least one swarm, sometimes numerous swarms each year, which will be looking for another suitable place to set up home, sometimes even down another one of yours or your neighbours chimneys.
2. Your other choice is that we remove the bees and re-home them. (This is a major operation and the costs will be in the thousands of pounds.) If you decide you want a quote for this service, call 07393743137 now.
For more information on removing an established honey bee colony, check out this page.
4. SWARM IN YOUR WALLS/ROOF
Our Secret Bee Moving Chemical is of no use in this situation. You need to give the colony 24 hours to see if they move on of their own accord. If this doesn't happen, then it will be a big job to remove the bees. Please don't be tempted to seal the entrance holes they are using, this will not solve the problem, and days later they will start to appear in other parts of your home. You could decide to live with them, but as I've discussed in the section above (Swarm in your chimney) there are various potential problems that occur, as well as the added potential issues of your ceiling plaster collapsing under the weight of the honey, and also honey seeping down walls and through ceilings. To discuss further, call us now on 07393743137
For more information on removing an established honey bee colony, check out this page.