There's a Swarm on Your Property. Here's What to Do.
Call us. Leave them alone until we get there. They're not as dangerous as they look
A swarm is a colony of bees that has split and is looking for a new home. They move as a group, land somewhere temporarily — a tree branch, a fence post, the side of a building — and stay put for a few hours to a few days while they figure out where to go next.
They look alarming. A basketball-sized cluster of bees on your porch is not nothing. But a swarm in transit is almost always calm. They don't have a hive to defend, they're not guarding brood or stores, and they have no real reason to sting you unless you give them one. Leave them alone and they'll leave you alone.
The worst thing you can do is spray them or try to move them yourself. Call us. We'll come collect them, and they'll end up in one of our hives instead of inside your wall.
How We Handle It
We come out, assess the swarm, and collect it — the colony goes into one of our hive boxes and gets relocated to our apiary. For a straightforward, accessible swarm this is typically free of charge. We're gaining a colony of bees, which has real value to us, so there's no reason to charge you for it.
If it's a difficult situation — a lot of ladder work, a long drive, a remote property — we may charge a small trip fee. We'll let you know before we commit.
One thing we don't do: structural removals. If the bees have already moved inside a wall, a soffit, or a tree cavity and been there for more than a day or two, that's a different job that requires cutting into the structure. We don't do cut-outs. For that you'll need a specialist or a pest control company that handles bees.
Not Sure What You Have?
Swarm (we can help): The bees arrived in the last day or two. They're clustered on a surface — a branch, a railing, the side of a building. They haven't built comb yet. You can see the whole cluster from the outside.
Established colony (you need a specialist): The bees have been there for more than a few days. They've moved into a structure — a wall, a roof line, a hollow tree. You can hear them but you can't see most of them. There may be honey or wax visible around the entry point.
Service Area
We cover Northern California from the Sierra Nevada through the Sacramento Valley. Current service area:
Portola · Truckee · Chilcoot · Hawley · Quincy · Colfax · Oroville · Marysville / Yuba City · Roseville · Sacramento · Elk Grove · West Sacramento · Auburn · Folsom · and surrounding areas
If you're close to the edges of this area and not sure, call and ask.
Call Us
Phone number: 279-247-5285
Call anytime you spot a swarm. If we don't pick up, leave a message with your address and a quick description of what you're seeing — we'll call you back as soon as we can.
In the meantime: don't spray them, don't try to move them, and keep kids and pets away from the area.