Bee Swarm Season in Johannesburg: What to Do When Thousands of Bees Suddenly Arrive

If you live in Johannesburg and suddenly discover several thousand bees hanging from a tree in your garden, your first thought is probably not:

“What a fascinating example of honeybee reproduction.”

It is probably:

“There are thousands of bees outside my house. What do I do?”

That reaction is perfectly reasonable.

Spring is also the time of year when we start receiving more of these calls at Bee Kulture.

South Africa's general honeybee swarming period occurs predominantly during the warmer months, with activity increasing significantly from spring onwards.

For Johannesburg homeowners, that means the arrival of warmer weather can also mean the sudden arrival of a swarm.

Why do bees swarm?

Swarming is part of the natural way a honeybee colony reproduces at colony level.

When conditions are suitable, part of an established colony leaves in search of a new nesting site.

What the homeowner often sees is a large cluster of bees gathered temporarily while scout bees investigate the surrounding area.

That somewhere may eventually be a hollow tree.

It may also be your roof.

This distinction is important.

A swarm sitting openly on a branch today can be far easier to deal with than the same bees after they have moved through a gap underneath your roof tiles and started establishing comb.

Is a swarm the same thing as a hive?

No.

People understandably use “swarm”, “hive” and “colony” interchangeably, but they can describe very different situations.

A newly arrived swarm may simply be clustered temporarily in the open.

An established colony has selected a nesting location and begun living there.

Once bees have settled inside a wall or roof and are building comb, storing food and raising brood, the nature of the removal changes.

This is why one of the first things we try to establish from customer photographs is whether we are looking at a temporary exposed swarm or an established colony.

Will the swarm leave by itself?

Sometimes.

A temporary swarm may remain in one location while scout bees investigate possible nesting sites and then move on.

The problem is that nobody standing in the garden can promise you where they will move next.

They might leave the property entirely.

They might decide that the cavity inside your roof is ideal.

This is why the surrounding environment matters.

If the swarm is in an isolated part of a large property and not creating a risk, the situation is different from a swarm hanging next to a school entrance, restaurant, pavement, dog's kennel or children's play area.

Context matters.

Are swarming bees aggressive?

A swarm is not necessarily looking for a fight.

The bees are in a transitional phase and do not have the same established nest, brood and stored honey to defend at that temporary location.

That does not mean I would recommend walking up to the cluster, touching it, spraying it or attempting to knock it into a bucket.

They are still thousands of bees.

Their behaviour can change when disturbed.

Keep a sensible distance and allow somebody who understands bee behaviour to assess the situation.

What should I do if I find a swarm?

The first thing is not to panic.

Move children and pets away from the immediate area.

Do not spray the bees.

Do not throw water at them.

Do not try to burn them out.

Do not stand underneath the swarm hitting the branch with a broom.

Yes, people do this.

Take photographs from a safe distance.

One photograph close enough to show the swarm clearly is useful, but a wider photograph showing the tree, wall or structure around it can be even more useful because it gives us an indication of height and access.

Then tell us where you are.

“Johannesburg” is useful.

“Oakdene, Johannesburg South, approximately three metres up a tree” is much more useful.

What if the swarm starts flying?

A moving swarm can be spectacular and intimidating.

You may suddenly have a large cloud of bees in the air.

If that happens, give them space.

Close nearby windows and doors where practical and keep people and animals away from the immediate flight path.

I would also advise against positioning yourself in the middle of the swarm to film it for social media.

There will be time for photographs later.

What if I see bees going into a hole after the swarm disappears?

That is the moment to pay attention.

If the visible cluster disappears but you start seeing concentrated bee traffic entering a roof, wall, chimney or another cavity, the bees may have selected their new home.

At that point the situation may no longer be a simple exposed-swarm collection.

The sooner it is assessed, the better.

A colony that has just moved into a cavity is very different from one that has had months or years to build comb and stores.

Why do we care about saving a swarm?

This is where Bee Kulture's philosophy comes into it.

I founded Bee Kulture around the idea that conservation has to work in the real world.

It is easy to tell people that bees are important.

It is more difficult to solve the problem when those important bees have moved into someone's roof.

To me, conservation cannot simply mean telling the property owner to live with the problem.

The better outcome, where reasonably possible, is to take that viable colony out of an inappropriate human environment and give it an opportunity to continue somewhere safer.

That is what makes bee relocation worthwhile.

We solve the customer's immediate problem without automatically treating the colony as something that needs to be destroyed.

What happens to a swarm after Bee Kulture collects it?

Our objective is to secure the bees and transfer the colony into appropriate hive equipment so that it can be relocated to a managed environment.

The work does not necessarily stop when the bees leave your property.

Relocated bees still need to establish themselves.

Their condition needs to be monitored.

The success of the relocation depends on factors such as the queen, the strength of the colony and how well it settles into its new environment.

This is one of the reasons I dislike the idea that bee removal means someone simply arrives and “takes the bees”.

We are taking responsibility for a living colony.

Should you wait and see?

There is no universal answer.

If the swarm is far from people and clearly temporary, observation may be reasonable.

If it is in a high-risk area, creating a danger or beginning to investigate openings in the building, early intervention makes more sense.

If you are uncertain, send us a photograph.

We can often tell very quickly whether the situation looks like an exposed swarm, an established colony or something requiring a closer assessment.

Spring in Johannesburg brings rain, flowers, green gardens and a great deal more activity from our pollinators.

It also brings bees into some inconvenient places.

The objective should not be to fear them.

It should be to understand what you are looking at and respond properly.