Where?

The Franklin County
Cooperative Extension Office

103 S Bickett Blvd
Louisburg, NC 27549

When? And What?

Day:
    Last Wednesday
Time:
    7:30pm
Next meeting:
    Feb. 29, 2012
Speaker & Topic:
    [Goto Meeting Page]
   

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Contacting Us‎ > ‎

Swarm Services

Honey bee swarm on branch. (image in public domain)

A honey bee swarm is an example of honey bee colony reproduction in action. In the spring and into early summer, a honey bee colony will raise new queens and divide. Most bees will stay in the old hive location, but a sizable amount of bees will leave with a queen in a swarm looking for a new hive location. In transit, the bees will swarm into a clustered staging area awaiting their scouts to find and then guide them to a new hive location. This swarm can be very unnerving to people unaccustomed to this behavior.

This is a natural event that happens many times throughout the year. A honey bee swarm is extra-gentle, and not something to be feared, but something to be cherished — we so desperately need more honey bees! Honey bees reproducing is a good thing.

That being said, honey bee swarms can be a nuisance and often move into a new location that is inconvenient to us humans. If you suspect you have a swarm in your yard, please contact one of the people listed below. We have also provided a question list to help determine the location and nature of the swarm.

Please be aware that beekeepers may charge a small fee or ask for a donation for their time for the removal to help compensate for the costs of equipment, fuel, and time.

Please contact one of these beekeepers:
(list is in alphabetical order — contact any one of them):



Make sure you have the following information:

  • Are these wasps and not honey bees? If they are wasps, call an exterminator.
  • How big is the ball of bees? Softball, volleyball, basket ball sized?
  • How long have the bees been there?
  • Where is the main concentration of bees?
    • Are the bees within a structure?
    • Are the bees in a tree? Or some other tall location?
    • How high in the air?
    • Do you have access to a ladder that can reach them?
  • Have they built a nest of any sort?
  • Will there be someone at the location to meet the beekeeper?
swarm removal from up high