Honey Bee

Honey bees, both colonised and feral (semi-wild), are extremely important and beneficial insects and we do not normally consider them as pests. They normally live as colonies in hives managed by beekeepers but on rare occasions they will live in the wild in nests as feral colonies, either case they will only sting people if strongly provoked as honey bees are very humble insects.

Identification:
Adult worker: 11-15 mm long.

Queen: 15-20 mm long. The pointed abdomen extends beyond the wing and has a smooth stinger.

Drones: 15-17 mm long, with no stingers.

Markings on a honey bee: Characteristic black and yellow/orange striped abdomen, black head and thorax. Sometimes mistaken as wasps in the early summer when they tend to swarm.

Biology:

During early to mid- summer honey bees will occasionally swarm, this is due to a new queen being hatched in the nest or hive. This means as there is only room for one queen in a colony, the old queen will leave and take a proportion of workers with her and look for somewhere to set up a new home. This can either be in a hollow tree, chimney, cavity wall, roof, or any accessible void that the scouts deem as good place to reside. Sometimes a swarm can be seen hanging off of a tree or shrub or other structures. This is normally because they are resting and will eventually move off to a more permanent site.

If a swarm of bees is witnessed the best option is to leave it alone, bees can be seen coming back and forth as they search for a suitable place to live, once found the swarm will calmly leave and take up residence in their new home.  This is usually resolved in a couple of days as the bees need to start collecting pollen to be able to start their honey making process and be able to feed again.

Control:
Because of their beneficial role, every effort should be made to avoid carrying out control treatments against Honey Bees. Treatment with a pesticide should be considered only as a last resort. Your local council may have a list of bee-keepers who will normally be happy to come and remove a swarm free of charge.  Pest controllers should never offer to control them unless absoutely necessary such as an aggressive colony.