{"id":126,"date":"2022-02-05T15:07:02","date_gmt":"2022-02-05T15:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devwphbka2.harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/?page_id=126"},"modified":"2026-04-16T11:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T11:25:08","slug":"swarms","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/index.php\/swarms\/","title":{"rendered":"Swarms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"swarms\">Swarms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people consider swarms of bees to be a sign of good fortune &#8211; but beekeepers appreciate that it&#8217;s not everyone who wants to share their&nbsp;house or garden with bees. If they are honey bees, beekeepers can usually find a good home for them! &nbsp; Swarming bees may sound and look frightening but they are at their most harmless because they have very little to defend and are away from their hive. It is a natural way for honey bees to expand and find new homes. Many swarms will settle on a branch at first forming a ball anywhere from the size of an orange to a rugby ball. Not all the places they choose are as easy to get to as the picture below. Often they are only with you for a few hours whilst they find a new home and fly off. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"306\" height=\"408\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/swarm1s.jpg?resize=306%2C408&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-458\" style=\"width:269px;height:358px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/swarm1s.jpg?w=306&amp;ssl=1 306w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/swarm1s.jpg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 306px) 100vw, 306px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-neve-text-color-color has-text-color\">\n<li>Leave them to settle down and keep a sensible distance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Don&#8217;t try to deal with the bees yourself.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-nv-c-2-color\">Call a Beekeeper<\/mark>:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/index.php\/swarm-collectors\/\">click here for the current local volunteer list<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/content\/swarm-collectors\">.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Harrow Beekeepers&#8217; Association operates a swarm collection\u00a0service &#8211; we do not make a charge (although a donation to our funds is always welcome &#8211; please see <a href=\"https:\/\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/index.php\/donations\/\">details<\/a>).\u00a0Tell the beekeeper as much as you can. You will be asked questions that help the beekeeper to decide what it&#8217;s best to do and whether you have honey bees or some other insect such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/node\/30\">bumble bees or wasps<\/a>. \u00a0 Please remember many beekeepers have full time jobs and families and may not be able to come straight away.\u00a0We may not be able to help if your bees are inaccessible or turn out not to be honey bees.\u00a0If you are in Middlesex or surrounding areas then we may be able to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Outside the Middlesex area your local council (environmental health) or police station may have a list of local beekeepers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can search nationally for a swarm collector on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbka.org.uk\/help\/find_a_swarm_coordinator.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the British Beekeepers Association website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Swarms Many people consider swarms of bees to be a sign of good fortune &#8211; but beekeepers appreciate that it&#8217;s not everyone who wants to share their&nbsp;house or garden with bees. If they are honey bees, beekeepers can usually find a good home for them! &nbsp; Swarming bees may sound and look frightening but they&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/index.php\/swarms\/\" class=\"\" rel=\"bookmark\">Read More &raquo;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Swarms<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-126","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1352,"href":"https:\/\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126\/revisions\/1352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harrowbeekeepers.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}