Swarm Busters

Who Ya Gonna Call???

SWARM BUSTERS!

The Stanly County Swarm Busters are beekeeping experts who know how and are willing to remove and relocate honeybee swarms safely and humanely.  The honeybee is our most beneficial insect so we must do all we can to protect honeybees we depend on to pollinate much of our food.

Some people think that a bee swarm should be exterminated for safety reasons, but this is rarely necessary and is discouraged if bee removal is possible.  Bee swarms can almost always be collected alive and relocated by a competent beekeeper.  Beekeepers will save swarms by gently helping them to relocate.

Swarming is the natural method by which honeybees reproduce colonies.  Typically, bees only attack in response to threats against their colony.  While they are swarming, they do not have brood to defend and are generally more focused on finding a new home, not on attacking. 

Honeybees may cluster on a tree branch, shrub or even under a picnic bench and may remain there for an hour to a few days, depending on the weather and how long it takes to find a new home. 

What to do if you encounter a swarm:

Do not disturb or tease bees, and do not try to remove bees yourself unless you know

how to manage them afterward.

Do not shoot, spray water, throw rocks, or douse bee colonies with chemicals. 

This will only irritate the bees.

Do not attempt to control bees with aerosol pesticides.

Call a Beekeeper!

Questions a Beekeeper may ask:

Where is the swarm?  In a tree, on the side of the house…etc. 

What are the directions to the location of the swarm.

Are they clustered on a paper nest?  (If so, this is not a honeybee swarm.)

How high is the swarm and how long have they been there?

Can I cut the branch off?

Swarm Map:

Swarm Busters: