Bee Swarms

Let’s keep it basic, why does a swarm happen?

A swarm occurs when a new queen is being born in the original hive. Once this happens or is close to happening, the original queen will leave behind the hive and the new queen; and take with her a good number of workers along with her plus enough food for around three days. They will land on anything during this search for a new home: the ground; a car; a building; or high up in a tree. From here the queen will send out scout bees to search the local area for suitable sites to set up home. It can take a few jumps for the swarm before the bees find somewhere suitable to move into and will travel miles to do it.

A swarm is a scary thing if you have never seen one before and the bees can leave as fast as they appear. They may rest overnight and into the next day while scout bees are out searching. The issue here is it’s not generally known how long that swarm will have been away from its food (the honey in the original hive). To survive, the bees need to find a home ASAP. They need to build new comb to start food production.

This is where we come in 

Shire Pest Solutions can offer these swarms a home. We safely and efficiently collect them throughout the Oxfordshire area. 

We have diplomas in bee keeping along with time spent working alongside members of the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) to make sure all the bees we save have an instant home to move into. 

Think you have a swarm? Then please get in touch ASAP for the bees.

Mike Light