Not every bee problem should end the same way. Honeybees live in managed, highly organised colonies and matter enormously to UK food-growing, so wherever we can, we look at relocation before anything else.
Honeybees aren't listed on Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, so they don't carry the same specific legal protection as some other wildlife. But that's not really the point – honeybees are a managed, highly organised social colony, not an aggressive or predatory insect like a wasp, and a settled swarm in transit is very rarely a danger to anyone.
They're also enormously valuable: honeybee pollination is estimated to contribute over £650 million a year to UK crop production. Because of that, and because no insecticide is currently approved for use specifically against honeybees, destruction should always be a last resort rather than a first response.
A cluster of bees resting on a branch or wall while scouts search for a new home has gorged on honey and has no nest to defend – unprovoked stings from a settled swarm are extremely rare. Swarms are also temporary: they typically move on of their own accord within 24–48 hours.
The BBKA keeps a postcode-searchable register of volunteer beekeepers who will collect a settled swarm, usually free of charge, and give it a new home. Where a swarm is low-risk and accessible, this is often the best first call.
Where a colony is already nested in a cavity, wall or chimney and genuinely needs to come out, it's handled as a proper relocation – not an extermination.
We look at how long the colony has been there, the season, how accessible the site is, and how the entry point can be sealed afterwards.
Live bees are safely vacuumed into collection boxes, brood is preserved in nuc boxes, and comb and honey stores are removed from the cavity – usually within a day.
Locating the queen is the key to a successful relocation. If she can't be found, the colony can usually raise a replacement and carry on regardless.
For voids that are very hard to access, a gradual trap-out redirects bees into an external box over several weeks using a one-way exit device.
The entry point is sealed once the colony has been removed, to stop robbing by other bees and to stop the site attracting a fresh swarm.
Only where relocation genuinely isn't possible, and the risk to people is too high to leave the colony in place, would treatment be considered.
Honeybees are golden brown and furry, and you will usually see a steady stream in and out of one small entry point. Wasps are bright yellow and black, smooth, and more aggressive near the nest. Bumblebees are large, round and very hairy, and their nests are small and die out naturally by late summer. Send a photo over WhatsApp and we will tell you which you have.
Not if there is any reasonable alternative. With honeybees we look at relocation first, every time. Treatment is a genuine last resort, used only where relocation is not possible and the risk to people is too high to leave it. Honeybees are not legally protected in the way people often assume, but that is not the reason we treat them carefully. Pollination is worth over £650 million a year to UK crops, and we are not in a rush to add to the losses.
Often, nothing. A swarm that has settled in the open is looking for a permanent home and usually moves on by itself within 24 to 48 hours. They are rarely aggressive at that stage, because they have no nest to defend. If it has not moved on, the British Beekeepers Association runs a register of local swarm collectors who will normally collect it free of charge. We can point you to them.
Leave them alone where you possibly can. Bumblebee colonies are small, they are not aggressive unless you interfere with the nest directly, and they die out on their own by the end of the summer. If the nest is somewhere genuinely unworkable, such as right beside a door used by a child with an allergy, call us and we will talk it through.
A cut-out, where the colony and comb are physically removed, is usually finished within a day. A trap-out, where the bees are encouraged out through a one-way device rather than opened up, takes several weeks. Which one applies depends on where the colony is and whether the structure can be opened up safely. We will tell you which after looking.
It needs to come out, and this is the part people most often skip. Abandoned honey and wax attract clothes moths, carpet beetles and rodents, so removing a colony and leaving the comb simply trades one pest problem for another. The scent can also draw fresh swarms back to the same spot for years. We remove the comb and seal the entry point as part of the job.
Whichever side of the business you need, every job starts with a survey and a fixed price before any work begins – and the call-out fee is deducted from the cost when a treatment is carried out.
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CCTV drain surveys and non-return valves where pests are entering via drains.
Tell us where they are and how long they've been there – we'll talk you through the options, including relocation, before anything else.
