Typically, swarms occur in May in this area. The swarm is the honeybee colony reproducing itself. An undetermined percentage of the bees and the old queen leave to swarm. A good swarm will be about 5,000-20,000 bees. If the air is filled with a cloud of flying bees, it is a swarm. A swarm will usually settle on a tree branch or bush, lost bees will join it. It builds up to about a soccer ball shaped and sized mass, depending on honeybee numbers and surrounding geometry. It is waiting, sending out bees to "scout out" a permanent home.
If you have a swarm, (large mass of honeybees) hanging from a tree, bush or side of a building, in your yard or on your property please refer to our swarm list below. We have experienced beekeepers you can call to remove the swarm. Swarms are normally very docile and are simply looking for a new open cavity to colonize. You should call a beekeeper as soon as possible. This way we can remove them before they "scout out" a permanent location in someone's house, garage, etc.
Extermination of Honeybees is prohibited. Please call us BEFORE spraying honeybees with anything, even a garden hose. Doing this could destroy the queen and make swarm removal more difficult. Swarms without queens are of little value to the beekeeper and nearly always perish.
If you have a colony of honeybees in your house or some other structure, there are some beekeepers who will remove them. When calling someone on our list, please be sure to give them as much detail as possible about the location of the colony in the house or structure.
Don't be fooled by ground nesting hornets or miner bees commonly known as yellow jackets. These are not honeybees! They commonly attend outdoor functions like picnics for food and a source of sugars. They also build nests inside man-made structures. They can be removed by some beekeepers, or unlike honeybees can be sprayed by an exterminator.
