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    29

    May 2023

    Last Updated: 26/05/2023
    Environment
    Environment

    Harrogate and Ripon beekeepers urge public to report swarming bees

    by Tamsin O'Brien

    | 29 May, 2023
    Comment

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    The Harrogate and Ripon Beekeepers Association has called on the public to get in touch if they come across a swarm of honey bees so they can be safely collected.

    Now is the time of year when honey bees can swarm in search of a new home. During a swarm, thousands of bees can be found clustering on gates or in trees and hedges.

    Diane Pritchard from the association told the Stray Ferret why the bees swarm. He said:

    "A swarm happens when a colony gets busy and crowded. The old queen will leave with about half the bees to start a new colony. Before the old queen leaves the bees that stay have made a new queen.
    "There can be up to 20,000 bees in a swarm but it’s normally around 5,000 to 10,000 bees.
    "It can look quite alarming but unless you start to swat it they are not dangerous. They’re not being defensive they are looking for a new home."


    The Harrogate and Ripon association has 400 members and covers all Harrogate postcodes, as well as Skipton, Northallerton and Leeds. Each year, its members collect around a hundred swarms.

    The association’s Swarm Team has two people at the end of phone line and, when a swarm is reported, the nearest beekeeper will don a bee suit and take specialist equipment to pick it up. The service is free.

    If the swam is in a tree the beekeepers knock the branch or cut it down and let the swarm fall into a box. The box is then opened near an empty hive which the bees generally colonise.

    A branch full of swarming bees is placed next to an empty hive



    Honey bees have had a rough time in recent years with disease and pesticides impacting bee numbers.

    More recently the bees have been threatened by a new foreign predator that has made its way to the UK – the Asian hornet, which eats pollinators such as bees.

    Diane said:

    "Honey bees have a much better chance of survival if they are looked after by a beekeeper rather than living in the wild. Diseases and pesticides are always a threat.
    "We’ve had three confirmed sighting of Asian hornets in the UK this year – one in Newcastle. The aim of all the associations is to raise awareness of the Asian hornet so if you think you see one, please report it."