Swarm List Protocol

For all of you who are on the Swarm List and intend to collect a swarm or two this year, it is extremely important that you read the Club Swarm Collecting Protocol & Responsibilities below. You are expected to have read them and adhere to them when going on Swarm Calls.

Pay special attention to #7 in the Protocol section (new enforcement procedures have been added) and #7 in the listed Responsibilities section.

If you wish to participate in the Swarms List, you should be familiar with the Swarm Protocol developed by the Nuc.

Swarm Collection Protocol

Marin Beekeepers has a Swarms List Server just for those members interested in collecting swarms and doing extractions. You can go on and off the Swarms List as your interests change from time to time by visiting the Swarm List Subscription Site:

http://marinbeekeepers.org/mailman/listinfo/swarms_marinbeekeepers.org

If you plan to join the Swarms List, please read and follow the instructions below. The following is the Swarms List Protocol:

  1. When a swarm is reported to the Web Site, the Report is sent to all subscribers on the Swarm List automatically. The Report includes the site address or some distinguishing description in the Subject Line for ease of follow up and identification.

  2. If you are interested in collecting the swarm, immediately Reply to the Swarm List e-mail, before contacting the reporting party, indicating your intent to collect the swarm with a’ REPLY ALL” using the original subject line and keeping the email string continuous. That way the reporting party will not get multiple calls from members wanting to get the swarm and others on the Swarm List will know it is being handled.

  3. Then attempt to contact the party reporting the swarm, ASAP. Try to determine if you have all the right equipment and right size ladder before heading out.

  4. Since swarms often move after a few minutes or sometime in the first 24 hours, please arrange to do the capture as soon as possible.

  5. If, after investigating the swarm, you decide you are unable to collect it for some reason, i.e. too high, inaccessible, or requires an extraction you don’t wish to perform, you need to immediately put a message to that effect back out on the Swarm List Server. Again using “REPLY ALL”, using the original subject line and adding any additional information that might be helpful to the next responder. That way others, more up to the challenge, can collect the swarm. As the first responder, please follow up and make sure the reporting party gets some resolution.

  6. If, when you arrive, it turns out to be wasps or yellow jackets and the home owner wants to exterminate the nest, you should not do so yourself. Generally, an extermination license is required to kill any pest, including honeybees. Foam spray cans for this purpose are available at most hardware and garden supply stores which may be applied by the homeowner, but not others without the proper license. It is generally not legal even for extermination companies to kill a beehive – in special circumstances profession exterminators are allowed to exterminate beehives that cannot be rescued and are a nuisance or hazard to individuals or the public. One Licensed, local exterminator who specializes in bee removals and exterminations is found below:

    William Johnson
    ATCO Pest Control
    (415) 898-2282 Main
    (415) 328-4468 Cell

  7. After you have collected one swarm during each year, please wait a minimum of two hours before your reply to another swarm report for the rest of the season. This will give others a chance to respond — especially early in the season when many members are looking to repopulate hives lost over the winter months. Remember we have over 300 members. If no one else responds after a minimum of two hours, it’s OK to jump back in and go for it. The Swarm Subcommittee will monitor the Replies and is authorized to unsubscribe Members that don’t adhere to this Protocol. Members who are unsubscribed may re-subscribe after one month.

  8. If the Swarm Listing is a “Structural Extraction”, the waiting period for the second reply will be a minimum of 24 hours. The Swarm Subcommittee will monitor the Replies and is authorized unsubscribe Members that don’t adhere to this Protocol. Members who are unsubscribed may re-subscribe after one month.

  9. The Swarm Subcommittee will monitor the requests for extractions to make sure every one receives a suitable response. If no one replies with a willingness to take on a difficult extraction, the Committee will attempt to find a Member willing to do it. Members willing to do complicated extraction will be contacted on a rotating basis to find someone to do the work.

William Johnson
ATCO Pest Control


When responding to a swarm call you are expected to assume some Responsibilities as listed below. Please:

  1. Contact the reporting party to determine more information and arrange the details of your plan to capture the swarm or extraction. If you plan to charge for your efforts, please mention your fee structure in the first conversation. If you charge for simple swarm collection, you should mention that some members might perform this service in exchange for keeping the bees.>
  2. Arrive at the appointed time and collect the swarm. If after evaluating the situation, it is more complicated than you anticipated, please have another discussion of any changes you might want to make in your fee structure.

  3. Most beekeepers don’t charge for a simple swarm collecting. If it is to be more difficult or time consuming, you can ask a fee or donation to the Club based on the time and effort expended. $50 – $75 per hour is not unreasonable. Some quote a flat fee for extractions. If the job requires carpentry repairs, make sure that you discuss if you can do the repairs or if they will need a carpenter or contractor. This work should be left to qualified individuals.

  4. Be sure the swarm is on the property of the reporting party or in public space. If not, you need to get the permission of the actual landowner before proceeding.

  5. Make it clear to the party you are acting as an individual and not as an official representative of Marin Beekeepers. The Club is acting only as an automated referral facilitator.

  6. If you will need to cut or trim branches, be sure to get permission first and clean up any limbs or branches left behind. In most cases the homeowner can dispose of the trimmings, but you should clean up and deposit the debris as directed or haul it away.

  7. Under most circumstances, you should leave your catch hive near the swarm site and returning after dark to be sure that you have retrieved all the bees. This is especially true when the swarm is near where people will be passing by. If you capture the swarm and take it away during the day, the scouts and foraging bees will return to the site of the swarm and be a nuisance to the homeowner.

  8. Every effort should be made to insure the survival of the collected colony. The reporting party has made an effort to report the swarm and has a reasonable expectation that the bees will be saved. It is our duty to make this happen.

Thank you