Honey bees in a tree: who removes them, as extension services and councils say

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes what the sources say about honey bees and does not give steps for finding, handling or removing a colony. Birds, bats and other protected animals in trees are on the wildlife and the law page.

Swarm and settled colony

The University of Georgia Extension describes honey bees reproducing by swarming. In spring the old queen leaves with more than half of the bees and the group clusters on a branch while scouts look for a permanent home. The article says the swarm stage lasts about 24 hours and that swarms are usually not very dangerous if the bees are not provoked. It says the permanent home could be an abandoned hive, a hollow tree or a hollow spot on a house. It describes a colony inside a house as a sting hazard that can also leave melting and rotting comb, and says that in some places away from people and animals, such as the peak of a roof, people and bees can live together without removal.

The University of Florida guide shows a feral colony hanging from a tree branch and another in the crawl space of a home. It says feral colonies nesting close to people or domestic animals can pose a stinging threat and may be a nuisance and possibly a threat to animal or public health.

Who decides in Florida

The UF/IFAS guide for beekeepers says the choice between removal, which keeps the bees alive, and eradication, which kills them, lies entirely with the owner or authorized agent of the property where the bees are found. It adds that some municipalities and homeowner associations have formal codes about removing honey bees. It reports Florida Administrative Code rule 5E-14.151, created in 2013, which lets registered Florida beekeepers do live removals of nuisance colonies and swarms without a pest control operator licence. It says killing a colony counts as pest control, and that doing pest control without a licence is illegal under section 482.165 of the Florida Statutes, so eradication goes through a licensed pest control operator.

What English councils say

Wealden District Council and Rother District Council use the same wording. They say honey bees left alone are not in general a risk to householders. They do not offer a service to remove bees from buildings and point owners to the British Beekeepers Association's advice on bees in buildings. They describe a spring swarm as a ball or teardrop shape of bees hanging from a tree or fence in the open and in view, and say a beekeeper should be contacted quickly so that the swarm can be gathered if the beekeeper wishes. Rother's page also says the first official Asian hornet sighting in Bexhill came in November 2024.

A council that kept the bees' part of a tree

In a release dated August 20, 2020, Dudley Council says its tree inspection team found a bees' nest in a hazardous tree on Marley Road in Wordsley during routine inspection. With a specialist contractor and the Hagley and Stourbridge Beekeepers' Association, the tree was cut back to make it safe while the part the bees had colonised was kept. The release says the council team also works to keep dead wood in appropriate places where public safety is not at risk and the wildlife value is high.

Who to call

Registered beekeeper or licensed pest control operator (Florida): the UF/IFAS guide names registered beekeepers for live removals and licensed pest control operators for eradication
County Extension office (Georgia): the University of Georgia article sends questions about honey bees in a home to the county Extension office
District council (England): the council page says it does not remove bees from buildings and points to a beekeeper for a swarm in the open
Local beekeeper (England): the council page says a beekeeper should be contacted quickly for a swarm in the open and points to the British Beekeepers Association list of local beekeepers