Bee swarms

[agrumpycow]

Recently my Mum encountered a swarm of bees in a neighbouring garden while she was hanging out her washing. Not being too fond of them she ran inside & shut all the windows until they had gone!
It made me think about what I would do if I was out in the middle of nowhere, with my dogs or alone, and I saw such a swarm. What is the best thing to do? My gut instinct would be to run but I doubt that is the right response!
So if I saw a swarm coming towards me and I had no way of getting indoors what should I do?

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by agrumpycow

So if I saw a swarm coming towards me and I had no way of getting indoors what should I do?

Ignore or better still quietly observe them. My understanding is that before they swarm they gorge themselves on honey. They need the honey because they convert it to wax for their new colony. They become very docile and unaggressive when gorged with honey.

Jim

[Beekeeper]

Jim is correct, Bees do gorge themselves with honey prior to taking off in search of a new home as they need food to last until they have built their new nest and have somewhere to store what they collect from the fields etc.

Whilst bees are full of food they find it very difficult to sting as to do so, they need to arch their abdomen and with a full stomach it is not possible.

There are however exeptions to the rule, if a swarm has been unable to find a new nest or have been on the wing for a few days or maybe a change in weather has stopped their activities, their food stores may be exhausted at which point they can become aggressive, but is is very unusual as bees will only usually swarm in good weather and they have already carried out a reccy as to where a suitable home may be built.

The best advice is to stand still until they have flown past you, the worse thing you can do is thrash out at them.

Sometime ago, i had a large swarm emerge from one of my own hives, much to my embassasment and they took off at low level across the road and were heading towards two girls walking on the pavement opposite, i shouted to the girls to stand still and the bees flew all around them but not one attempted to sting, thank goodness.

Hope that helps


BK

[agrumpycow]

Thanks for the replies and for the information. Not sure I would be able to stand but if it ever happens I'll try my best

[Pippa]

It takes me all my time to stand still when confronted with one never mind a swarm and i am not too afraid of bees Agrumpycow.I have to keep reminding myself it is not a hornet or wasp, or i'd really take off.

[agrumpycow]

Originally Posted by Pippa

It takes me all my time to stand still when confronted with one never mind a swarm and i am not too afraid of bees Agrumpycow.I have to keep reminding myself it is not a hornet or wasp, or i'd really take off.

Cheers Pippa, if I ever came across a swarm of hornets or wasps I think I'd do more than take off....

[Jim Ford]

Apparently a human can outrun wasps, but not bees!

Jim

[Pippa]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

Apparently a human can outrun wasps, but not bees!

Jim

Not this human Jim.The bee usually leaves me alone when i run.The wasp usually gets mad at me for reasons only known to itself .

[brucemstrs]

I was very interested to read your thread and all the replies, especially as I had experience of a swarm quite recently.

One quiet afternoon just a few weeks ago in June, I was walking along a high hedged country lane in Bucks. and arriving at a field gate that looks out over a panorama of stunning countryside, I stopped to enjoy the view. Leaning on the gate I took out my camera, enjoying all the while the heady atmosphere, and started to look through the viewfinder at some possible angles.

To my surprise the wind started to rustle some trees across the field behind me, quite vigorously with that strange sound that seems very far off and very loud. I took little notice, concentrating on my camera, while the noise became louder and louder and obviously nearer. Suddenly it dawned on me that all in front of me was completely still. Not a breath of wind whatsoever. Very strange indeed.

I looked behind me at the opposite hedge, from where the noise now seemed to be coming, and while I was looking some bees started to fly into view over the hedge. They continued to come in a stream that grew and grew, rapidly becoming a flood of startling proportions.

I checked which way to go to avoid them, and giving another look in their direction found it was already too late for flight. What seemed like a whole tidal wave of them was flooding over the hedge with a now deafening buzz.

The only thing left to do was to cover my face, kneel down and let them go whichever way they chose. The noise was very scary for a few seconds, but started to diminish quite quickly. When I ventured to stand up and risk a look, they were already half way across the field in front of me and moving rapidly on. Just a few stragglers around me who soon gave chase and left.

I was now leaning on the gate as before, except my heart was thumping considerably faster, and I had that strange feeling of not being sure if it had actually happened.

I was pleased to read comments from those more knowledgeable that keeping still was the correct thing to do, though I was surrounded by such numbers there was little else to be done.

Quite an experience, though not too often please!

[brucemstrs]

I was very interested to read your thread and all the replies, especially as I had experience of a swarm quite recently.

One quiet afternoon just a few weeks ago in June, I was walking along a high hedged country lane in Bucks. and arriving at a field gate that looks out over a panorama of stunning countryside, I stopped to enjoy the view. Leaning on the gate I took out my camera, enjoying all the while the heady atmosphere, and started to look through the viewfinder at some possible angles.

To my surprise the wind started to rustle some trees across the field behind me, quite vigorously with that strange sound that seems very far off and very loud. I took little notice, concentrating on my camera, while the noise became louder and louder and obviously nearer. Suddenly it dawned on me that all in front of me was completely still. Not a breath of wind whatsoever. Very strange indeed.

I looked behind me at the opposite hedge, from where the noise now seemed to be coming, and while I was looking some bees started to fly into view over the hedge. They continued to come in a stream that grew and grew, rapidly becoming a flood of startling proportions.

I checked which way to go to avoid them, and giving another look in their direction found it was already too late for flight. What seemed like a whole tidal wave of them was flooding over the hedge with a now deafening buzz.

The only thing left to do was to cover my face, kneel down and let them go whichever way they chose. The noise was very scary for a few seconds, but started to diminish quite quickly. When I ventured to stand up and risk a look, they were already half way across the field in front of me and moving rapidly on. Just a few stragglers around me who soon gave chase and left.

I was now leaning on the gate as before, except my heart was thumping considerably faster, and I had that strange feeling of not being sure if it had actually happened.

I was pleased to read comments from those more knowledgeable that keeping still was the correct thing to do, though I was surrounded by such numbers there was little else to be done.

Quite an experience, though not too often please!