SWARM ASSISTANCE
Honey Bee Rescue/Swarms - BEE ALERT!
A FEW WORDS ON SWARMS - AN EXPERIENCED BEEKEEPER IS A LIFESAVER!
(watch the video)
For swarm assistance please select someone from the list below. The list is broken down into geographic area for convenience. It helps if you TAKE A PICTURE to be able to text/send to the beekeeper once you contact them.
UPDATED 2020 SWARM ASSISTANCE LIST
| Doug Koch | 540-313-5183 | any day | Winchester City, Frederick County, Western Clarke County |
| Ed Shideler | 540-272-6265 | any day | Frederick County |
| David Reese | 540-636-8669 | any day | Warren County |
| Kay Hoynoski | 540-660-1720 | any day | Front Royal |
| Ryan Owings | 540-336-2309 | any day | Winchester City, Frederick, Clarke Counties |
| Henry Mileus | 703-298-0817 | Mon, Tues, Wed |
Clarke, Loudon, Warren, Frederick, Jefferson and Berkeley Counties |
| Linda Cunningham | 540-550-5587 | Tues, Thurs, weekends | Winchester City, Frederick, Clarke Counties |
| Ron Clevenger | 540-532-0246 | Any day |
Southern Frederick County and Warren County |
| Danny Smedley | 540-222-4994 | Any Day for Cutouts and swarms | Warren, Clark, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties |
BONS members if you want to be added to this list contact Doug.
One more caution: If the swarm is high up over 25 feet, often the best thing to do is nothing. We love to rescue honey bee swarms and give them homes in our hives. However, they are not worth getting injured for. A swarm will leave where it is located, typically within 24 hours, if you do nothing at all.
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What to do if you see a bee swarm! Watch this one minute video.
First, let’s help you figure out what you’ve got.
If the nest is in the ground, these are not honey bees. They are probably yellow jackets. We can’t help with that. If they have to go, you can wait until nightfall and pour a bucket of soapy water down that hole. That usually solves a yellow jacket problem.
If you can see a nest covering that looks like a dull gray paper, those are probably wasps. We can’t help with that either.
But if you’re looking at a hanging blob of thousands of bees, that may be a honey bee swarm.
Don’t panic – they are quite docile in this state and not at all prone to sting. It might look like this…
Next comes the question of where the swarm landed. Bee swarms often land in trees. However, they can be found about anywhere. Below is a picture of a bee swarm on an F-18 fighter, just in case you’ve got one of them in your yard. More seriously, the chief questions are how high and how accessible they are. Bee swarms are prized by beekeepers, but not if we have to risk broken bones, etc. If we can get at them, we’ll be happy to give them a new place to live, a hive! If we can’t, they will leave on their own in a day or two.
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Catching a Swarm for experienced beekeepers
Learn how to catch a bee swarm and install it in a new hive from our friends at Brushy Mountain Bee Farm.
June 2017
From Brushy Mountain Bee Farm
Shane Gebauer, president of Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, demonstrates how to capture a bee swarm with the Hipps Swarm Retriever and install it in a super. Knowing how to catch a swarm is important both for capturing new swarms you want to add to your beekeeping operation and for recapturing bees that outgrow yoLenniur own hives before they travel too far afield. The most important part of capturing a swarm — other than wearing the proper safety equipment — is ensuring you've captured the queen and placed her within the new hive. Otherwise, the rest of the swarm will leave to find her again.
A good indication that you've successfully installed the queen is neat rows of eggs in the frames a few days to a week after you place the swarm in their new home. Once the swarm has settled in, you can start adding honey supers to the hive.
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For more information, you might look at:
Moving honey bee swarms with bare hands