Bee Swarm Collection

Swarms are a natural process of a bee colony. Swarms occur because the space in which the colony lives has become too small for it. The colony decides it's time to split and along with the existing queen, half the colony takes off to find a new home. They leave behind a yet-to-emerge queen, and a smaller colony to care for the baby bees – considerate really!

The important thing to remember if you come across a swarm of bees is that they are usually not aggressive whilst swarming. This is because they have no territory to defend. Within the swarm will be their queen, and their primary goal will be to find a safe haven for her and the colony.

Swarms occur in Australian spring time but can occur at any time in reality. For SEQ, this means July through October is swarm season! Swarms are not dangerous but can be a public nuisance. Please don’t fumigate or poison them as there will be a beekeeper willing to come and rectify the issue for you.

Swarms are identifiable as a large group of bees normally clustered around some odd object or a tree. Typically, they congregate on something close to the location from where they have just come from whilst they await the scout bees returning with the location of their new home. A swarm can look like many things but typically it is characterised by audible buzzing and the air filled with bees, flying in a swirling like of pattern through the air. Once they land, they are clustered around the object, with many bees festooning downwards.

If you come across a swarm, stay calm. Stay curious. Stay out of their way just in case and call a local beekeeper!

We collect swarms given they are within a 20km radius of Bulimba. Call us on (07) 3899 6994 anytime between daylight hours to assist.

We also assist with native hive rescues and hive removals.

(Reused content from when I was Secretary at Northside Beekeepers Association)