Are Bee Swarms Dangerous? (What You Should Do)

Have you ever encountered a bee swarm? Do you saw any swarm bee clustering near your house?

If so then you might wondering are bee swarms dangerous? Bee swarms will be dangerous if you create any interference with them. Otherwise, they are unlikely to be a danger to you.

Is it enough? No, to be safe from a bee swarm, you should have knowledge about other things too.

Like when a bee swarm can become dangerous. How to avoid bothering a swarm. How to keep yourself and your family protected from a swarm. How to get rid of a swarm of bees that made their hive on your house.

Every necessary thing I am going to discuss in this single post. So, after then you will be able to learn how to minimize danger from a swarm of bees.

 

 

 

What Is A Bee Swarm?

A group of bees left their old hive with their old queen to build a new colony in a new location. This group in most cases contains a portion of their old hive. Sometimes the entire colony of the old hive is also swarmed. This happens when their old hive doesn’t have enough protection.

A bee swarm usually contains a few drone bees, a queen, and a lot of worker bees. The scout bees are sent to find their new home spot. Then worker bees with their queen flew to their new home. The queen leads the swarm during the swarming session.

 

 

 

How Many Bees Are In A Swarm?

It actually depends on the type of bees and the weather condition. Usually, a bee swarm can contain 500 to 50,000 bees. This number can be more or even less depending on other factors.

During the swarming, some other bees can also join with them. Similarly, a few bees can also die for various reasons.

 

 

 

Why & How Do Bees Swarm?

Bees will swarm when their old hive becomes overcrowded. Also, if the old hive becomes inadequate for them because of environmental or any other reason. They will also swarm away for a better and more suitable home.

 

 

However, Bees can swarm for various reasons these can including the following.

1. When their hive become overpopulated.
2. The atmosphere of their current location becomes rough for them.
3. Sometimes a portion of bees leave the hive when there is a newly born queen. The old queen won’t allow any other queen in the hive. So, a portion of worker bees will swarm with either the new queen or the old one.
4. When a hive become queenless, bees also can swarm away. In the case of a queenless hive, the beekeeper should requeen it as early as possible.
5. Bees also swarm when their current location has a lack of food sources.
6. When a colony gets infected by disease the healthy portion of the colony will swarm with the queen. This is to protect the queen and keep their clan’s existence.

 

 

When Bees Are More Likely To Swarm?

The main reason a swarm takes place is when the hive becomes overcrowded. Usually, a beehive becomes overcrowded during the fall. This is why bees are more likely to swarm from late summer to fall.

During fall bees become more aggressive. This is because bees become maximum in number. Also, there is a lack of food sources. So, they will look for a new suitable place and swarm away.

 

 

 

How Do Bees Swarm?

The swarming is a step-by-step process followed by the colony. When a portion of bees decide to leave the colony they do the following.

1. First, the scout bees are sent to find a suitable location.
2. Scout bees return within 1 to 3 days after finding the location for their home. The scout bees left some signs there just like booking the place for their new home.
3. Within 2 to 3 days of the scout bee’s return to the colony, the bees will swarm away with their queen.
4. While they are leaving their old house they take some honey with them. This is to feed themselves during the swarming session.
5. When they reach their new home, the worker bees start building their new hive.

Sometimes bee swarm takes place without selecting the spot for their new home. This usually happens when they need to swarm emergency. An emergency swarming takes place when the hive is in danger.

 

 

An emergency swarm will cluster together far from their old hive on a tree or any other location. Then they will start looking for a spot to build their nest. Then they will build their nest and relocate their colony.

 

 

 

Are Bee Swarms Dangerous?

So, far we have learned what is a bee swarm, why and how do bees swarm. Now the main question is are bee swarms dangerous?

bee swarms obviously would be dangerous if you become a disturbance for them. Otherwise, bee swarms are absolutely a minimum danger for you. Bees won’t attack anybody until they got danger alarms from others.

 

 

A bee can sting only once in her entire life. After the sting, it will die. So, why she is going to sacrifice her life by stinging you without any reason?

Bees are very defensive about their colony. When they see the colony is in danger they won’t hesitate to sacrifice their life. So, they will sting the enemy and die.

So, if you don’t create any interruptions with them they won’t sting you. But if you create an interruption with them they will definitely sting you. Not only a single bee an entire swarm can also attack you.

I want to share a real story with you. It is during the lockdown in 2021. Suddenly I heard some people shouting that a lot of bees are swarming over the yard of our house.

So, I came out to see and saw bees from one of my colony are swarming away. Honey drop is dripping around continuously. Because the swarm had taken some honey with them.

 

But none of them had stung anybody. Because they are very far from the ground. The swarm abandoned the hive. But during the swarming session, they didn’t attack anybody.

I told people to keep calm. Then told them to go inside their home and close their doors and windows until all the bees left the place.

So, you can understand that bee swarms are not dangerous if you haven’t interrupted them. In case, you become a danger to them they will also become a danger to you.

 

 

 

What Should You Do When You See A Swarm Of Bees?

If you see a bee swarm going through your area to any other location. Then you don’t have to be panicked. Enter your home and close all the doors and windows of your house. Keep your family members inside the house until all the bees have left your area.

But if you see a bee swarm is building or already created its nest near your house., This can include your house wall, garden, or anywhere near your house. Then it could be a matter of worry for you. This can be for any of the reasons discussed below.

1. If you have pets like cats or dogs, they can get stung by bees.
2. Also, if any of your family members accidentally interrupted the beehive, the bees will attack him/her.
3. Having wood bees will also lead to woodpeckers who start pecking your house.
4. Bees can chew through dry walls, and woods. So, they can damage your housewall and also wooden materials too.

If the bee nest is in a location where your family members or pets walkthrough, then you should remove it.

If blackjack bees are causing damage to your household. You can get rid of blackjack bees on your own.

But never approach yourself to remove a large bee swarm. Because this could be very very dangerous. If you try to remove the swarm by yourself they will attack you.

So, call a local beekeeper at your location. He will help you to remove the beehive and take the bees with him for keeping.

Also, you can call pest removal specialists. They will remove the swarm safely. If you are a beekeeper then you can remove a bee swarm by using a bee vac safely.

 

 

 

Can A Swarm Of Bees Chase You?

Of course, a swarm of bees can chase you if you try to harm them. If you bother them they won’t leave you without doing anything.

If you even accidentally interrupted them they will start chasing you. That’s why when you see a bee swarm it’s best to avoid any type of interruption with them.

 

 

 

How Do You Escape If Bees Chasing You?

 

In case, bees started chasing you will have a small time to escape them. So, you should do any of the following.

• Find a house: Don’t get panicked. Keep yourself calm and try to find a house around yourself. Run there and enter the house. Close all the door windows and even any small entry holes.
• Look for a suitable place to hide: If you can’t find a house go to anywhere where you can hide yourself. It could include a car or any similar thing.
• Don’t jump into the water: Some people will say to jump in the water. But it won’t work. Bees will hover above the water. When you pull your head from the water they will sting you. So, the best thing you can do is hide somewhere.

 

If you got injured by so many bee stings don’t waste any time. Seek medical help. Because too many bee stings can be dangerous.

Remember bee swarm won’t chase you if you don’t interrupt them. So, when you see a bee swarm keep calm, look for a place to take shelter. This will minimize the risk.

 

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions Related To The Danger Of A Bee Swarm

 

 

 

 

Final Words

So, guys hopefully you now understand are bee swarms dangerous or not. Also, how you can minimize the danger from a bee swarm.

Now check my article on how you can get rid of bees using bleach water. If you are a beekeeper you might check this article on how to avoid bee stings.