Beekeepers leap into action as swarms spring up weeks earlier than expected

Auckland is buzzing over an increase in bee swarms this spring.

Experts say swarm season has arrived four weeks earlier this year, on the back of a mild winter which left existing hives much larger than normal.

Auckland Beekeepers Club president Ken Brown says there's no need to be alarmed, though.

"It's spring and spring is the time when they... are best prepared to swarm to [give themselves the] best chance of survive this season and be ready to survive the next winter.”

While beekeepers do try to avoid swarming, colonies do grow and eventually split, he says.

Those who do spot swarms don't need to freak out – Brown says there are dozens of beekeepers in a WhatsApp group ready to respond to any sightings - which, he admits, is a lot like the Ghostbusters.

"If you call the Auckland Council, they tend to call the Auckland Beekeepers Club anyway. So, you can go to our website and there's a map. You can click on the nearest beekeeper or call Brian, our swarm coordinator, and he will alert the WhatsApp group.

"There'll be up to 50 beekeepers who are ready to go out and collect swarms and they will just collect them safely and make sure they're given a good home.

"We don't have feral bees anymore because of the varroa mites. They would die eventually, you know, within a year to 18 months. So, we are actually doing the best thing for the bees by rehoming them and treating them and caring for them," Brown says.

Swarms often have around 8000 bees in them, Brown tells RNZ’s Checkpoint, but they aren't dangerous.

"The main thing is to wait till they settle. They settle quite quickly, but what will usually happen is... a swarm will go out of the hive about 50 to 100 metres and then settle on a branch or a fence or something like that."

Once they're settled, foragers will go out to find their new home.

"We try to catch them when they're in this stage.

"They're very placid then because they're not defending their food or their brood or their hive. So we just shake them into a box, wait for the foragers to come home and then rehome them.

"We know that they're so placid that quite often we wouldn't even bother wearing a bee suit or gloves or anything," he tells Checkpoint.

Usually they use a swarm capture box to round up the bees – but sometimes a bucket or a bee vacuum is needed.

"Sometimes, when you go to a school or a high street or something and there's a big crowd and you wander up there and you collect the bees and all that, and then you get a chance to talk about bees for a little while, and yeah everyone's quite impressed.

"It's very satisfying knowing that I'm giving them a good new home and educating the general public about bees."

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