Along with the chorus of lawnmowers, nothing sounds more like Spring than the buzzing of bees. There are over 1500 native species of bees in Australia, along with the introduced European honeybee.

Generally bees happily go about their business collecting nectar and water droplets to make honey, but in spring, bees can become a challenge if they decide to move house. When a Queen and a portion of her colony decide that their current accommodation is too crowded or is diseased, they leave to form a new hive. Hives only tend to become overcrowded in spring when there is a rapid increase in the number of bees in the hive that coincides with the increase in nectar gathered from spring flowers.

The new queen leaves with some of the workers and they have to find a new home. They send off “scouts” to look for a good place and the remainder of the bees form a large ball of living insects with the queen in the middle. They wait for a few hours while the “scouts” go looking.

Swarms are not aggressive unless provoked, so if you find a swarm of bees in a tree or in your roof, brick wall cavities, garden shed, letterbox or other dark areas of your property, leave them alone. Watch them as they may move away in a few hours; if not then call us to remove them for you. Keep your pets and children inside the house away from the swarm. Do not hose the swarm of bees or spray them, as this will trigger them to release a pheromone and result in an attack.