Getting Advice
If you have unwanted honey bees, either in a swarm that has just arrived, or a colony of bees that swarmed earlier and has now taken up residence somewhere on your property, please could you take a photo (f possible and safe to do so) and contact one of the main swarm collectors shown below.
Please be aware that swarm collection by an IWBKA member is dependent on both the availability of the beekeeper as well as the swarm location, and the volunteers are under no obligation to collect them.
The volunteers who are part of IWBKA swarm team are highly skilled beekeepers and often heroic individuals, who set time aside from their lifes to collect unwanted bees. However, swarm collection is often complex and therefore not all swarms can be successfully removed, despite the efforts by the beekeeper.
We really appreciate your wish to remove bees in a humane way. That said, rescuing bees from high buildings and chimneys is usually a very complex task, as it often involves ladders or even scaffolds, and thus need to be undertaken by professionals specialised in this sort of swarm collection.
Our team of volunteers are not trained or ensured to perform such a task, but thankfully there are companies who specialise in this sort of work, for example the ones listed below (there may be others that can provide the same or similar services, so it may be worth doing an internet search on the topic):
- Darren George, Hampshire Bee Company; 07778 141 505
- SwarmCatcher, admin@swarmcatcher.co.uk
| Name | Areas covered | Contact |
| Terri Burt (swarm coordinator) | West Wight & Cowes | 01983 295096 / 07833 394730 |
| Carol Bradshaw | West Wight & Cowes | 07748 886246 |
| George Bignell | East Wight | 07817 692083 (not on Whatsapp) |
| Derek Sothcott | East Wight, Shanklin, Wootton | 07887 657022 (not on Whatsapp) |
| Bob Bromley | West Wight | 07752 262668 |
| Neil Oliver | Cowes and South to Newport. West to Shalfleet and Calbourne | 07969 258366 |
| Laura Sadler | All areas | 07900 105676 |
Viable swarms will be taken away to the teaching apiary, checked for health and passed on to new beekeepers looking for their first colony.