Bee Swarm!

Trotter

Sorry if this is the complete wrong forum but has anyone come across this before?!

We were just outside setting up the barbeque (standard back yard of a housing estate) when one of the neighbours opened his back window and shouted to go inside that there was a swarm of bees out the front! Just then , they came around the corner.. in a big swirling group.. hundreds of them!

This is discovery channel stuff that just wrecked my barbeque!

I've never seen the kids on the road being hauled in so quickly, and on such a glorious day!

What do you do when that happens? Just go inside?? What if they do "attack"? Is there anything you should do?

KerranJast

AFAI remember you should get in contact with a beekeeper to move the swarm into a hive. I think they may disperse themselves eventually but they could swarm for a few days so it's better to contact someone to move them. You definately should keep kids and pets away from the swarm. In that state bees can be much more aggressive than normal as the queen is out in the open.

Ruu_Old

You be careful that no one has any known allergic reactions to bee stings

Trotter

Yeah we all went inside. Of all the things to ruin a barbeque!

Kids are out and about again so they must be gone. Maaad ted.

luckat

Contact a beekeeper - http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/fibka.html - and go inside.

If bees attack, put the hose on, and spray it into the air above them; if the bees think it's raining their instinct is to get down and away.

Trotter

Elytron wrote:

Where abouts was this? Did you see any of the bees? What did they look like?

It was in a housing estate in Waterford.. and no, I didnt hang around long enough to have a look at them. I just saw a whoooole lot of swirling little noisy dots.

mloc

I remember that happened here about 10 years ago. Just beside UCD. Huge swarm, i'd say at least a thousand, twice in the one day. Then never since.

Our man in Havana

This happened to my folks once didnt last long & they were prepared to jump into our pond if they went to near my folks.

tj-music.com

Eeewww, they scare me big time. Nasty little ****ers they are, Bees!:mad:

fits

KerranJast wrote:

In that state bees can be much more aggressive than normal as the queen is out in the open.

Actually not true, bees are least likely to attack when swarming (at least for the initial 24 hours or so) as they are carrying a large amount of honey and are quite well fed and happy. They probably wont harm anyone, although I agree it can look intimidating.
Try and contact a local beekeeper, who will be delighted to take them, they probably came from a beekeepers hive anyway, as the wild bee population has almost died out.

Trotter

fits wrote:

Try and contact a local beekeeper, who will be delighted to take them, they probably came from a beekeepers hive anyway, as the wild bee population has almost died out.

I would only I havent seen them since! They only stayed around for about 5 mins.