How to Spot, Stop, and Safely Handle Honeybee Swarming
“A swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not worth a fly” This saying has proved to be true at least for the beginning of this season. Our swarm season is usually at the end of May a month later than our southern English counterparts but due to the great weather, this year had started earlier in May with many swarms being reported.
Honeybees are incredibly important and valuable for agriculture and farmers, fertilising many of our crops. There are around 70 crops in the UK that depend or benefit from bee pollination. Swarming is the honeybee’s way of reproducing involving the queen and (up to 75%) of the workers leaving to the hive to find a new home. Swarms can be a problem if they end up in a public area or in tree or someone’s chimney. Although they are much more placid than bees defending a hive, they can cause alarm.
Honeybees initially cluster close to their hive; they then search for a more permanent home. It is important to try and catch them before they move on as it is much more difficult if they are high up in a tree or in someone’s roof. Most local beekeeping associations have volunteers who will collect swarms that are relatively easy to collect. You can find your nearest affiliated association at scottishbeekeepers.org.uk. If they do move on and are in someone’s home, you may have to contact a professional bee remover. This can be costly so another reason for controlling swarms.
Honeybees can also be a source of disease spread. Therefore, beekeepers try to manage their bees to prevent or control swarming. Be wary of where you pick swarms up from and if you are in an area with disease, please keep in an isolation apiary until you are certain it is disease free. You can see where European Foulbrood is in Scotland by look at the link to the EFB map below.
Beekeepers aim to trick the bees into thinking they have swarmed by using swarm control husbandry methods such as doing splits and making up Nuc (small boxes of bees which will grow into a full hive of bees.) As a beekeeper, you should learn about the different methods of swarm control and use which one best suits you. Simply taking down queen cells will not stop the bees swarming they will make more in harder to find places. There are links below on Swarm control methods. Clipping the queens wing and having bait hives in your apiary may prevent you losing bees.
If you keep bees yourself or have bees on your land it is important they are registered on beebase. If not, you can sign up at www.nationalbeeunit.com.
Key Take Home Messages
- The development cycle of the queen has an impact on colony management particularly during swarm control.
- A seven-day inspection frequency of colonies is advised. If you carefully inspect the colony every seven days, they are unlikely to swarm before your next inspection if there were no queen cells when last inspected.
- Clipping the queen’s wings can delay swarming.
- Practice swarm controls methods until you find a method that works for you.
Useful Links
Lorraine Johnston, SRUC Bee Advisory Officer, Lorraine.Johnston@sruc.ac.uk
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Posted by Unearthed News on 17/06/2025
