Swarms!
(Mainly for non-beekeepers)
The Stratford-upon-Avon & District Beekeepers' Association maintains a list of beekeepers who are willing to collect swarms or assist the public with bee related problems. Contact telephone numbers are supplied to the police and to environmental health departments. This service is normally provided free of charge, except where the bees are particularly difficult to remove or there is considerable travel involved. Advice is always free and we would urge members of the public to talk to us rather than to contact pest control companies - bees are not pests!
A swarm is a part or, in some cases, all of a colony of bees that has left its home - either a hive or perhaps a hollow tree.
When a swarm first issues from a colony, it will usually fly around for a short while and then settle, possibly on the branch of a tree. The swarm will then send scouts to find a new home and then, when they have found one, will move to it. A swarm may hang up for just a few minutes or for several days, but when it moves off it will be gone in a couple of minutes.
A large swarm will make a considerable amount of noise as it is flying around and can be quite a frightening sight to the non-beekeeper. However, most swarms are very docile and will not sting even if you stand right in the middle of them - provided that you do not attempt to impersonate a windmill!
It would be difficult to explain swarming completely here, but the following gives a reasonable overview:
Bees normally swarm for one of three reasons:
Reproduction
Colonies of bees sometimes die during the winter - they may starve if they were unable to gather sufficient food during the previous year, or they may be attacked by pests such as mice or woodpeckers, or the queen may have failed - and must therefore reproduce. If they did not, then eventually there would be no bees.
Individual bees cannot survive alone, so the colony, which functions as a unit, must split in order to reproduce. It does this by first producing new queens (because every colony must have a queen - they lay all of the eggs that produce the workers and drones) and if the colony is to split then it will need at least one new queen. When the first new queen cell has been finished and sealed, approximately half the bees leave the hive with the old queen to set up a new colony. This is the typical 'prime swarm' that we will usually see in this area during May.
Mating
When the new queen emerges from her cell she must then mate with up to ten drones. She mates on the wing and usually does this around the fourth day after emerging from her cell; of course, the weather will affect when she flies.
Usually queens fly out alone on their nuptial flights, but sometimes a swarm will issue with them. These are known as mating swarms. These swarms normally return to the colony with the queen, but sometimes they may fly away and leave the colony for the next queen to emerge. She may then take-over the colony - or may also fly off with an even smaller swarm - and so on…
These small swarms are known as 'casts'.
Absconding
Sometimes bees will abscond from the nest site because of unfavourable conditions. This happens rarely in this country.
Firstly, remember Corporal Jones and 'Don't panic!'
Swarms are normally very docile and do not sting unless severely provoked. Even if bees land on you, they will simply fly away again if you let them. This is because bees normally sting only in defence of their home - and a swarm does not have a home to defend.
What you should do:
What you should NOT do:
Association Swarm Liaison Officer: Moira Osborne: 01789 731745.
Moira is able to offer advice and has a list of beekeepers in the area who are willing to help with swarms.
Warwickshire Police Headquarters at Leek Wootton: 01926 415000. (There is no need to dial 999!)
Stratford-upon-Avon Environmental Health Department: 01789 260831.