Peter Norris
People shouldn't be worried about a swarm. It's actually the time when they're least likely to be stung. It's terrifying if you don't know what's going on, I accept that, but there's probably 10 to 15,000 bees in a prime swarm, which has got the old queen in it. That is when the old queen flies out of the hive and takes about half the population with her. And she's looking for a new site to start a new colony. And once she establishes that colony, about six to eight weeks after that, then the colony usually supersedes her. They raise another queen through a supersedes process, not a swarming process. But people shouldn't be scared when there's a swarm around. They're full of honey. It's a happy time for them and it's a reproductive time. And they're just less likely to be stung than any other time.
Lucy Breaden
Lovely.
Peter Norris
Yeah, it's good. It's hard to get that message across.
Lucy Breaden
Yeah. Well, look, I went out amongst them today and there was no stinging. I was just fascinated by what they were doing. Jared from South Arm says he's seen three swarms in three days, which sounds quite busy. Another texter says, as a beekeeper of 20 hives, it's been busy. Have collected some seven swarms in the last two weeks and got one to pick up tonight, up to 20,000 bees in a prime swarm. A lot of a lot more text coming in. Yeah. And Jane Hobart says the bees will move off eventually. It's just that eventually is slightly longer than 10 minutes. So how long does one of these swarms last?
Peter Norris
Oh, look, it depends where they land. I mean, they may decide to take permanent camp there. I mean, if it's in your garbage bin or your compost bin, particularly, they love them. And they'll set up permanent home in or in an air vent in your brick wall, particularly if it's sort of first floor height. They love places around that sort of height. In the eaves of houses, sometimes they get in hollow trees, chimney, chimney pots, particularly if the fireplace has been blocked off underneath and there's no updraft. The bees love them. But quite often the first place of encampment is a rose bush or an apricot tree. They love apricot trees. And then they will move on from them probably a day or so later. But there's no guarantee that they'll do that. If the weather turns foul and they start building comb there, then they may be forced to stay there permanently.
Lucy Breaden
Oh, OK. And that might not be music to some people's ears, especially if they use that area a lot. What do you recommend, Peter, for people that do come across one of these swarms and who should they be calling? What should they do?
Peter Norris
A good, if they know a beekeeper, contact their beekeeper, their local beekeeper. Contact the Southern Tasmanian Beekeepers Association. We do have a website and on the website there's a list of people who collect swarms. Don't antagonise them, don't turn the hose on them or anything like that. Just leave them be and call a beekeeper. And we'll do our best to get someone there as quick as we can and save the bees.