swarm on a tree

Swarm Reporting and Management


If you have a swarm of bees contact the Swarm Officer

Phone 07527 798659

at any time


With the recent decline in honey bee population, the good management of bees has become increasingly important to us all. Swarms are a vital resource for both new and experienced beekeepers and the following section is designed to explain the HWBKA swarm reporting and management process.

As most of you will know we expect bees to start swarming from May onwards through to July, but it is not unknown that bees sometimes do not follow the rule book and have been known to start swarming in April with one hive swarming as late as end of September last year! So the motto, as always is ‘be prepared’.

HWBKA area of responsibilty. HWBKA Committee has drawn up a boundary of where we will take responsibility for any swarm notification. This is it!

HWBKA swarm responsibility area



Other Associations. We have made contact with the other Associations outside our boundary to determine who their swarm officers are so that if we do get notified of a swarm in their area we can pass the details to them.

Contact. We have a dedicated mobile telephone for the Association so that anybody can contact the swarm officer at any time. The telephone number is:

07527 798659


The telephone will stay with whoever is acting as Swarm Officer at all times.

Swarm Management. If you are an HWBKA member and you want a swarm, please inform the Swarm Officer via either the above number or by email at swarm@hwbka.co.uk .


    The Swarm Officer will maintain a list of those wanting a swarm on a ‘first come first served’ basis. The Swarm Officer and those wanting to collect swarms will do their very best to respond in a timely manner to swarm reports, although it should be noted that this is a volunteer service and relies upon the availability of collectors.

    Swarm management background information

      The Swarm Officer will provide everybody who wants a swarm with a letter (by email) to hand to the person (owner) from whom they are collecting the swarm. This will give details of differences between solitary and honey bees, wasps and bumble bees with the aim of educating the public. In addition it will limit HWBKA’s liability by stating that we are assisting the ‘owner’ of the swarm and will not accept any responsibility for any damage occurring in the collection process. Finally, it will also offer the ‘owner’ an opportunity to make a small donation to HWBKA to help defray our costs.
      The Swarm Officer will also send a Gift Aid form to everybody who wants a swarm with the above letter which needs to be passed to the swarm owner, and filled out by them, so that we can get an additional 28p per £1 collected because we are a charity.

      And Finally. Beekeepers will not attempt to enter the fabric of a building to collect a swarm as our insurance does not cover us for this eventuality. However, we do know several Pest Control Officers who are very bee friendly and with modest charges. They won’t destroy bees unless they have to. A bonus! So we will use them when needs must.