Give the bees room
Keep children and pets away, and don't hose the bees, throw things at them or use smoke. If someone is stung and has noisy breathing, a swollen tongue or throat, or collapses, call 000. Scrape a bee sting out with a fingernail or the edge of a card rather than pulling it.
Bees in Perth
Spring is swarm season
The City of South Perth says bees usually swarm between September and November, though swarms still turn up in summer and autumn.
Most swarms are passing through
The City of Cockburn says a swarm left undisturbed is generally no danger, and usually moves on once the bees have found a new place to nest. It also says not to try moving a swarm yourself.
Private property is the owner's job
In Cockburn, bees on private land are the owner's or tenant's responsibility; the City steps in when a swarm is on Council land or is a safety concern. Other Perth councils have their own local laws, so check yours if the bees are on a verge or in a park.
Hives in WA are registered
Anyone keeping honey bees in WA must register as a beekeeper with DPIRD, however many hives they have. If the bees seem to come from a neighbour's backyard hive, that's a conversation with the neighbour before it's a pest job.
Swarm or hive in the house?
| A swarm | Bees living in the house | |
|---|---|---|
| What you see | A cluster of bees hanging from a branch, fence or post | A steady line of bees going in and out of one gap in a wall, eave or roof |
| How long it stays | Usually moves on once the bees find a nesting site | Stays and grows, with comb built inside the cavity |
| Who to call | A local beekeeper or swarm catcher, if it doesn't move on | A pest business |
What the job usually involves
A technician first finds where the bees are getting in and how far into the wall, ceiling or floor the colony has spread. That decides whether the job is done from the outside or needs a section of lining opened up.
The questions that change the size of the job: how high the entry is, whether the comb is inside a wall cavity or roof space, whether lining has to come off, and who seals the gap afterwards so bees don't move back into the same cavity.
Worth asking before work starts
- What happens to the comb and honey inside the wall once the bees are dealt with?
- Who seals the entry gap afterwards, and when?
- Does any lining or roofing need to come off to reach the colony?
- How long should we keep people and pets away from that side of the house?
Where we'd start with bee removal in Perth
If they're hanging in a tree, we'd keep everyone back and give them time to move on. If they're flying in and out of the house, tap Bees with where the gap is and how high.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
