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.
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.
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.
>>BEES IN WALLS: If you have an established colony of honeybees in your house or some other structure, there are some beekeepers who will remove them. The job is not easy. Structural building material is removed during the process. 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. If you have sprayed the honeybees with insect killer prior to calling a beekeeper, don’t be surprised by the beekeepers reluctance to help.Beekeepers do not want poisoned honeybees. You should also be sure you have honeybees, and not yellow jackets. Many people get these two VERY different insects mixed up.This LINK will take you to the OSU Honeybee Lab fact sheet on bees in walls. There is some very good information for the homeowner or resident dealing with honeybees in walls.Some people manage to live happily with honeybees in their walls for years.
>>BEES IN HOLLOW TREES: If you have an established colony of Honeybees in the hollow of a tree, consider yourself fortunate. Feral Honeybee colonies inhabited many hollow trees prior to the mass Honeybee losses in the 1980s . Their recent re-inhabitation of these locations seems to throw a panic into the public.Left undisturbed they normally pose no threat. They are beneficial in the pollination of the plants wildlife depends on.Many people manage to live happily with honeybees in hollow trees near their house for years.Removal of Honeybees from the hollow of trees without the removal of the tree is a difficult long process.This trapping process, (explained in the OUS link above), can provoke more defensive behavior from the colony being removed. If you have a tree that requires removal and is inhabited by bees, please call one of the beekeepers on the list below to talk about the possible options for relocation of the Honeybees.
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Are they Honeybees?
Honeybee
Eastern Yellow Jacket
We get many calls for "honeybees living in the ground". Honeybees never, ever live in the ground, they live mainly in trees, under your eaves, even in your walls or attic. Honeybees are fuzzy and actually more orange or gold in color, wasps are not fuzzy and yellow. These wasps can sting repeatedly, they will come out of the ground if you are mowing or walk over the hive, it takes very little to provoke them, and that is what makes them dangerous. A honeybee will almost never sting unless provoked or protecting the hive.
Google "how to get rid of Yellow Jackets" or call your local exterminator.
Homemade wasp trap: a 1 gallon milk jug half filled with sugar water, a little vinegar, a piece of banana peel, and a piece of ham (the ham keeps the honeybees out). Put the lid back on, poke a few holes in the sides and set it near wherever the wasps are bothering you. When its filled, pitch it and make another one.
Swarm Removal
Please begin calling the people listed closest to you. Please tell the beekeeper where the swarm is, some of our beekeepers are unable to remove hives/swarms inside buildings or 30 feet up in a tree. Be prepared to answer some questions: How high is the swarm? What size is it...basketball, soccer ball, football, softball,.....? Approximately what diameter is the branch is supporting them if in a bush or tree? How long has it been there? Has anyone sprayed the bees or thrown some object at them? Do not expect someone to remove a swarm that has been sprayed with bug spray. Bringing a swarm of bees exposed to pesticides home to a bee yard would cause the beekeeper to loose other colonies. The more details, the better.
Swarms end up in unusual locations. These bees decided a Honda Civic would make a wonderful new home. Opening the trunk revealed the bulk of the swarm. The rear window shelf had to be removed to get as many of the bees as possible.The car owner, (pictured by the car), was very happy once again to be able to drive his car home.
If you look closely, (below left), you can see my finger in my attempt to trace out and disconnect the rear brake light wiring. Kevin Kress, (below right), removing the bees with a vacuum.
Please send me an e-mail at isequen@aol.com if you would like to be added to our swarm list.
