Swarm collection rant

[Hivemaker.]

be up front about your charges before you go out, they then have a choice.

I agree, i just tell them up front it will cost them £400 if i they want me to collect them, and let them decide.

 

[Outlander]

So, to use one I did in June as an example:

phone call on a wednesday with a swarm to collect nearley 20 miles from where I live. I finish work at 5 pm, go home, get my stuff, drive the 20 miles, drop the bees into the box. What then? Drive 20 miles home, have a cuppa, drive another 20 miles back at 9pm not knowing whether or not the bees are still in the box or not, drive another 20 miles home either with a swarm that could abscond tomorrow or an empty box.

So I've driven 80 miles, spent 1.5 hours in the car, potentially saved the caller hundreds of pounds and sorted a problem for them, and I'm expected to do all that for free?

Next time someone rings me with one to collect, I'll give them your email address....

No, I would not go that far, had one 15 miles away today but found someone near there and passed it on. I'm not knocking anyone who stays, at times you have to. I just agreed that It does not take long on a straight forward pick up to drop them in a box and if you can. disappear until the evening.

 

[crazy_bull]

I agree, i just tell them up front it will cost them £400 if i they want me to collect them, and let them decide.

Be nice to get the odd one say yes please.

We have a regular call out policy with a hospital who have had bee's in a high building, each year for the last 5-6years we have had to go out 2-4times to collect swarms for them, we charge them £40 to do it as it is a fair way, the reason we keep getting the job is that we will give them a proper invoice and paperwork, they tell us that everyone else they ask always wants cash and no receipt, that could be classed as dishonest I suppose.

C B

 

[village girl]

I think a reasonable charge for fuel ect is ok and as long as you are up front with the house holder. whether you stay till after dark or leave a swarm box and return later is a up to you and I find each collection is different and calls for different approach.

 

[HM Honey]

they tell us that everyone else they ask always wants cash and no receipt, that could be classed as dishonest I suppose.

C B

Ah, thats a whole different kettle of bees..... I work in finance (accounts) so have had to make HMRC fully aware of My "hobby" as I sell honey and selling the honey and not declaring it could get me into a lot of trouble and lose me my job. The income from swarm collecting is also fully declared as are any costs related to my beekeeping, so I guess I am more of a commercial beek even though I only have 3 and a half hives.

 

[HM Honey]

I find each collection is different and calls for different approach.

 

[BeeJayBee]

If people are going to collect swarms please do so in a professional and correct manner where possible.

I have now had to go out to 3 'swarms' where when I get there I notice that perhaps someone else has been there before, on asking the caller where the rest are they say oh well so and so has been out and banged them in a box and has left and is refusing to come back to clear them so I called you.:nono

I'm not on any swarm list, so how people get my number is something of a mystery, but I've now been asked to collect several 'leftover swarms'. Each time it's been because another beekeeper (or so-called 'pest controller') has done a grab and run job of getting as many bees as they can in as short a time as possible. Each time the householder has tried to get the person to come back, but they have been either magically 'too busy', have totally refused or have said they'd make another 'appointment'.

I haven't yet asked for cash, but I've always been asked how much I charge - so I suspect the grab and runners have taken not only a swarm but also some money, for an incomplete and unsatisfactory job.

I do think there should be a means of taking these people to task, but the onus has to be on the householder to do it. They can't if they don't know how .. who, for example, should these rogues should be reported to?

Bees are very much in the news at the moment, maybe it would be a good time for a programme showing how a swarm should be collected, and how people are being fleeced by these 'cowboy swarm collectors'?

 

[milkermel]

Hm honey I was wondering this! The number of people who charge and how many if these are declaring this income.

Someone mentioned 130 for wasps and up front charge that's the one big boy everyone tries yes they do charge that much but this tear would reckon most pesties will only be charging about 20. But also with times being hard more people will destroy as it is their income not a hobby.

Think people should definitely check their insurance is valid if they are charging. Oh and of course provde a receipt

 

[madasafish]

Well despite saying "charge", I do not

I am on the local Council's list as a Swarm Collector and so far this year have collected one swarm, and removed two bird boxes with Tree Bumbles (which WERE aggressive - one last night). And went to one OAP and advised her that Tree Bumbles in her guttering would be safe until Autumn...

But then all are local within 2 miles and I refused a call for honey bees in a chimney - don't do heights or buildings.

I would not travel 20 miles for free - and find a bumbles nest. So far locals have been reasonable - I am not kindly disposed to taking abuse from muppets.

 

[crazy_bull]

I'm not on any swarm list, so how people get my number is something of a mystery'?

Off your honey jars? That's where a lot of my calls come from.

I see someone else has found some aggressive bumbles, I did a bird box pick up last night and got mobbed by red tailed bumbles when I went to block them in, got 2 mtrs away and they poured out .... All 10-15 of them, but bless them they were persistent, any way half hour in the pub saw them back to bed and foam in and off to pastures new! The aggression was a first for me, I guess someone had perhaps been winding them up.


C B

 

[Dishmop]

Its a pity that the sites that have lists of swarm collectors dont also have photos of bees, so that people can see what sort of bees they have or a link to a good google page that shows different bees.


I suppose an unscrupulous collector could collect a swarm, take it down road and shake it out into somebody elses garden..

or dont bother to do a/s an own hives and get paid to collect your own bees.

 

[HM Honey]

I have also experienced aggressive bumbles....ironically, on a job that I charged nothing on due the little old dear being, well, a little old dear.....

 

[HM Honey]

Its a pity that the sites that have lists of swarm collectors dont also have photos of bees, so that people can see what sort of bees they have or a link to a good google page that shows different bees.


I suppose an unscrupulous collector could collect a swarm, take it down road and shake it out into somebody elses garden..

or dont bother to do a/s an own hives and get paid to collect your own bees.

There is an identification chart on my local associations website so I always get the caller to look on this first.

Oh, and talking of my local association, they also charge £30.

 

[Teebeeaitch]

I see swarms rather like scrap cars. You may remember when you had to pay the scrappie to come and collect your scrap car. Then scrap metal prices rose and they would come and collect for free. Then they rose higher and the scrappies started paying you. Whilst I have not yet paid out any money for swarms, I would if they became scarce. It would still be a very cheap source of bees.

 

[SixFooter]

I have never charged for swarm collecting, but I have never travelled more than a few miles. When I have left a swarm because it is inaccessible, it has always just gone away, never into a nearby cavity. Admittedly, one of them took 2 weeks to move on, but mostly just a couple of days to become an SEP.
I have never seen aggressive bumble bees. But then, most books ( and other collectors) say swarms do not sting and I nearly always get stung a couple of times when I collect them.

Different experiences, so different opinions

 

[SixFooter]

Just remembered a call from a girl who said the bees in her garden needed to be moved as she was very allergic. Apparently she had been stung in the foot a few years previously and it had swelled up so much that the doctor told her if she got stung again, whatever had been stung would have to be amputated! I nearly said "forehead", but didnt.

 

[Chris B]

I could rant about some of the people who make the Bumble bee calls.

I struggle to be tolerant of those people who are so intolerant themselves.
Last Monday, 5 calls during my lunchbreak and 3 more while eating evening meal. We get at least 12 every day and the record is about 30. I'm not even on any swarm list, just secretary of local BKA so name appears on contact page. (And 1 just now as typing the above). But what really gets me is many have been referred on to beekeepers by the council. (And another call = 2 today and only just gone 9 a.m.)

 

[Graham40]

I had one old lady dragoon my brother into removing a swarm, hes not a beekeeper and is allergic to being stung. I was on Holiday and my dad was somewhere else. So not to be put off she insisted he collect them. He made a valiant attempt as hes seen us collect numerous swarms in the past but hes not a beekeeper. Bee suit was dawned nuc box readied off he went got most of them in the box, apparently it was quite a job as it was in the middle of a beech hedge. He did leave it until the evening to go collect them. I don't know what he was going to do with them once he had them in the box, probably Pa would have taken over at this point. However for what ever reason he left the box on site we occasionally do this to make sure we've got the lot but its normally somewhere quiet. By all accounts he'd done a reasonable job as there was quite a crowd of on lookers. On returning the following day to collect box and occupants the box had been stoned and the bees had departed... needless to say Pa still gave him a good bollocking.
So I can see where some people might be going to get help to remove bees not necessarily a beekeeper but it could be anyone with access to beekeeping equipment, the original beekeeper has died / or was a beginner with not much experience etc the equipment is still around....

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

There is an identification chart on my local associations website so I always get the caller to look on this first.

Oh, and talking of my local association, they also charge £30.

i have made up an identification questionnaire (with photos) and have given it to to the County Council call centre, don't know it it's worked but have had no calls so far this year - bumbles or otherwise

 

[Teebeeaitch]

To be fair, the staff at my Council does try to ask the right questions to determine if it’s a genuine swarm before referring on to the local beeks. However, as we all know, getting accurate information from the caller can be very difficult. Let’s face it, if a beek is still left wondering if its bumbles, bees or wasps, how we can expect the Council staff to be 100% sure before referring on. I think they try their best but if they are left unsure, they will naturally refer it to the beek in order that they can make the judgement. And of course, you don’t have to go out, it’s your call.