If you see a swarm of honeybees—brown and black striped, not bright yellow like wasps or yellowjackets—don’t panic. And please, don’t try to kill them or scare them away. Call the Alameda County Beekeepers Association (ACBA) at 510-898-6696 and they will send a beekeeper right away to relocate the bees at no charge.
The beekeeper will arrive with equipment to encourage most of the bees to move into a box. Over the next few hours, the rest of the swarm will join their sisters in the box, according to the ACBA. At dusk, the beekeeper will return to remove the box, now filled with the bees, and will take it to a safe location where the bees can thrive.
While you wait for the beekeeper to arrive, stay calm. The bees will remain together in a clump, except for a few scouts. “When honeybees swarm, they are in a very gentle state and unlikely to sting,” volunteer beekeeper Dan Remotion posted on Facebook. “They’re just looking for a new home.”
To protect the bees—and people who may disturb them—it’s a good idea to keep others from approaching. If the swarm is in a public place, the ACBA suggests cordoning off the area and posting a sign saying that a beekeeper is on the way.
When is a swarm not a swarm? When a honeybee colony is established inside a house, perhaps living in the chimney or an attic, it’s no longer a swarm. The bees can still be safely removed, but the extraction process is more complicated, the ACBA notes. Call the ACBA at the same number and they will refer you to a beekeeper who will handle the relocation. There will be a fee, to be negotiated with the individual beekeeper.
