Honeybees

Honeybees are social insects and live together in huge numbers.  A hive can contain as many as 50,000 bees, and a large swarm could contain around 25,000 bees.   If what you are looking at does not contain at least many hundreds of bees, it is unlikely that you have honeybees.
You would be most likely to see a swarm of honeybees from late April until perhaps as late as July, with most occurring in May and early June.
Honeybees vary in colour, from almost black to a light brown, and usually the hooped stripes on their abdomen are visible.  They are usually not bright yellow and black.
When a swarm of honeybees is flying (and shortly after settling somewhere) the air will be thick with bees.  The bees will normally cluster on an object (a tree, a fence or bush are favourites, but anywhere might do!) and after an hour or two, the swarm will settle down, clustering around the Queen.  Often this cluster will look like a football or rugby ball.  Unless the site is good enough for the bees to make it a permanent home, they will fly off to a new home, usually within 24 hours.

Honeybee

Swarm

Re-homing a Swarm

You may also find honeybees decide to try out parts of buildings – eaves, roof spaces, chimneys and cavity walls. You will not see large numbers of bees, but a regular traffic of bees in and out of the structure.  It is most likely that we will not be able to help with this, and experts will need to be called in.  Please do not try to poison the bees, as the poison can cause problems not just for the bees in the structure, but for other bees, insects or animals who might visit the site drawn by the smell of honey.

Wasps and Hornets

Hornet

Wasp

Wasp nest in loft

Wasp nest in tree

Like all beekeeping associations, SABKA will not remove wasp nests.  See Swarms for details of what to do if you have a wasps nest.

Bumblebees

Bumblebee

Queen Bumblebee

Bumblebee nest

These are also often confused with honeybees. In general, they are larger, furrier and dark-coloured, except for stripes across the ends of their tails. The stripes may be light brown or orange or white and there may be a number of them, depending on the exact species (there are 24 different species of bumblebee in the UK). The larger bumblebees are usually a queen bumblebee, which can be slightly larger than the end of your thumb and the smaller bumblebees (the workers) are slightly larger than the end of your little finger.
Bumblebees are generally very docile and difficult to provoke, and whilst they can be held on your hand, bumblebees can sting.  They do not swarm however.
Take a look at Bumblebee Conservation Trust which has a good amount of information and pictures on bumble bees if you would like to identify a particular type of bumblebee.

Solitary Bees

The only other major class of insects that can easily be confused with the above are the solitary bees.

Red Mason Bee

Tawny mining Bee

These are often active earlier in the year than honey bees and wasps.  These often look like flies or honeybees, but they live on their own. They are harmless and best left alone – they do not swarm and few can sting or are aggressive. However, if you wish to move them on, you can do so by gradually introducing some disturbance or by making the ground damp, but only if you have to – they will cause no harm if left alone.
Take a look at Solitary bees gallery for more information on the most common types of solitary bee that you are likely to find in your garden.

If you have any other sort of bee, including bumblebees,

By far the best thing to do is to leave them alone (cordon them off if possible) until the autumn and let them enjoy life.  They will die away naturally in the autumn.  If you have bumble bees and they have to be moved, then please contact us as above and we may be able to help, but that cannot be guaranteed.   Please note that moving or disturbing a bumblebee nest often results in the death of the bees.