Illawarra's Flame Tree Beekeeper explains what to do when you see a swarm

The apian expert has been keeping bees for around seven years and is increasingly being requested to share her knowledge - and dislodge a swarm or two from domestic premises.

The Flametree Beekeeper said when a swarm looks like a "football hanging from a tree", that is when the group are looking for a new home and not to be ignored.

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"They're sending out scout bees, and the scout bees are looking at peoples wall cavities, anywhere with an entrance and like a void behind it," she said.

"I've got them out of funny places, like people's hot tub machinery ... I've got them out of people's recliner chairs that were on the back deck, wine barrels, compost bins."

If the bees are at that "hanging out" stage, she said it's easy to move on but once they've settled on their new home it gets more difficult.

"There was one trying to move into my mum's wall cavity the other day, and it was the whole swarm," Ms Brown said.

"We had to get a whole bunch of smoke going to convince them that was a terrible spot and they can all come piling out ... but that was only because they'd just moved in."

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If that swarm had already spent a week in the wall with new babies and had made their comb, it could have ended in a piece of the wall being cut out and the use of speciality equipment.

"If people see a swarm just hanging about outside, just ignoring it is a bad thing," Ms Brown.

The beekeeper bought her first beehive because she found there "weren't enough bees" in the area she was living and hoped to contribute to upping the local population.

She said the popularity of having your own colony of bees was growing across the Illawarra, with much of her work with new beekeepers.

"It's an easy craft to buy bees, but it is a little bit involved to look after them well," Ms Brown said.

Beekeeping is season dependant where not much is done in winter during hibernation, with more work involved during the warmer months around managing space and keeping bees healthy.

Other key help areas are around the health of bees and what to do when a hive looks sick - such as the comb looking "black, thick and attached to everything".

"Thing about bees is they have a few transmissible diseases we don't treat for diseases in Australia [unlike overseas]," Ms Brown said.

"The only answer here is to try and keep your colony strong by not robbing too much honey and keeping them in the appropriate sized box."

However, some diseases do require drastic measures (like the European Foulbrood) by destroying the colony of bees and burning all gear.

Because of this, she said, all beekeepers should be registered with the NSW Department of Primary Industries.

An introduction to beekeeping workshop will be held this month, on January 15 at Green Connect's 11-acre permaculture farm at Warrawong.

They will also hold an "in-depth" beekeeping workshop on February 5, as part of their summer series of permaculture workshops.

To book, and for more information, visit: https://green-connect.com.au/visit/op-shop-and-farm-workshops/

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