Report A Swarm

Sacramento Area Beekeepers Association (SABA) has member volunteers to collect honey bee swarms on private or public property–in most cases for free. Most of our members are hobbyist beekeepers, though some are small commercial beekeepers, in the Sacramento area. If you have a swarm on your property, don’t panic.

Please be certain of the following before you report the swarm:

1. Be certain they are honey bees, not wasps, hornets or bumble bees.
2. Be certain of the location of the swarm, the height off the ground, and the size of the swarm.

Please read the information below regarding honey bee swarms.

The swarm should be reported using the following link to the SABA Swarmed app:
Type in the address to start

The Sacramento Area Beekeepers Association utilizes this service as an educational service to the public. While we do our best to provide opportunities to train and assist beekeepers who may respond to swarms, we are neither an oversight nor certification organization for beekeepers. SABA does not employ, recommend, or endorse any beekeeper’s skill, training, or expertise. Please check with individual beekeepers for their qualifications. Though problems are very rare, members of the public engage individual beekeepers from this service of their own accord.

Local beekeepers will be notified of the swarm by using the link below.

https://beeswarmed.org/report-bee-swarm-saba

Need help with a swarm outside of the Sacramento area? See the California State Beekeepers Association list of Affiliated Clubs in all areas of California to find a club or association near you. Two clubs near Sacramento County are El Dorado Beekeepers (eastward) and Big Valley Beekeepers Guild (southern).

Why do bees swarm?

Bee swarms are a natural response to an overcrowded hive and half or more of the colony depart to look for a new nesting cavity. When bees are swarming they are generally docile. They will merely find a suitable spot to gather, as a temporary measure, while they send out scout bees to find a more permanent location as a new home. They are not too choosy about where this temporary spot will be, it could be in a tree/bush, on a clothesline, a fence, a bicycle, anywhere that they can land to form a cluster to protect their queen. With no brood nest to defend they are at their calmest. A swarm may cluster for a few hours or a few days before flying off to their new home.

If the honey bees seem to have made a home already, such as, in a tree, chimney, or inside a structure (wall, roof, etc) they are an established colony and no longer a swarm. The bees can still be safely removed, but the extraction process is more complicated. Removing an established colony is a Trap Out (TO) or Cut Out (CO) situation.  A colony extraction requires a bee removal specialist. There will be a fee, to be negotiated with the specialist.

What to Expect

A beekeeper volunteer will arrive with equipment to encourage most of the bee swarm to move into a box. Over the next few hours, the rest of the honey bee swarm will join their sisters in the box. The beekeeper may leave with the majority of the swarm captured or may return to remove the box at dusk and take it to a safe location where it can thrive.

We can only collect swarms that appear to be on public land or where we believe we have been given permission by the property owner or the tenant in control of the property. If you see a swarm on private property and you’re not the owner tenant, try to get the owner to contact us.

Also, understand that we can’t return swarms we collect. (Legally speaking, swarming bees that are not “continuously within eyesight” of the original owner are considered wild animals and become the property of the collector.)

If a honey bee colony is established inside a house, e.g., living in a wall, chimney or attic, it’s no longer a swarm. The bees can still be safely removed, but the extraction process is more complicated. There are bee removal specialists experienced in doing such extractions. There may be a fee to be negotiated with the individual specialist.  . Below is a list of bee removal specialists who are experienced, may be licensed and insured, and may charge a fee for any service.

The Sacramento Area Beekeepers Association publishes and distributes this Bee Removal Specialist list as a service to the public. We are neither an oversight nor certification organization for any bee removal specialist. SABA does not employ, recommend, or endorse any beekeeper’s skill, training, or expertise. Please check with individual beekeepers for their qualifications. Though problems are very rare, members of the public engage individual beekeepers on this list of their own accord.