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.”

The association’s Swarm Search co-ordinator can be contacted on 07471 784210.

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A suspected Asian hornet has been spotted in a garden in Harrogate today.

Andy Johnson believes he spotted one of the invasive insects on the fence outside his garden in the Hookstone area of town.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“I didn’t manage to get a camera in time to take a photo, but I had a look online afterwards.

“I put two pictures up on Facebook and someone I know said one was a European hornet and the second was an Asian hornet.

“The one that’s more akin to what I saw is the Asian one, with slightly orangey wings. If it was an identity parade, I would say it’s the second one.”

https://twitter.com/andyj2859/status/1551539714989199360

The invasive species is a threat to native honey bees, which is why Defra asks sightings to be reported via its website – and even set up an app for reporting sightings in 2017.

Its website said the hornets pose “no greater risk to human health than a bee” but they were a threat to British honey bees, which was the reason any sightings needed to be reported.

Since 2016, there have been 22 confirmed sightings in the UK, including 12 nests which have been destroyed. One of the sightings in 2018 was in Hull, but the rest are mostly closer to the south coast and commonly in September and October.

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Mr Johnson said he had reported his sighting to the Harrogate and Ripon Beekeepers Association and was awaiting a call back. He added:

“My neighbour saw it first and said, ‘what’s that?’

“She is a retired doctor who has lived here for many years. She’s into gardening and she knows much more about identifying insects and things than I do, so if it’s not something she recognises then it must be unusual.”

He added he wanted people to be aware that the insects could have migrated to the Harrogate area so if they spotted one, they would know to take a photograph and report it.