Swarm... Help!
You have discovered a swarm of bees in your garden, house or out-building, what should you do?
Firstly, check if what you have are bees or wasps, this may sound rather obvious but it is an easy mistake to make! Wasps and honeybees are about the same size, but wasps have alternating black and bright yellow body stripes. Honeybees are brown with paler brown or dirty yellow bands on the body. Bumblebees are furry.
If bees are already lodged in a chimney, roof or wall space and have been there for some time (weeks, months or even years), then they are a well established colony, with combs of honey and young bees. If the bees have only appeared within the last few days, or if they are clustered in the open hanging from a branch of a tree or bush, then you have a newly arrived swarm with bees only, and possibly no combs built yet.
