Brightwell Bees

 
If you find a swarm of honeybees please contact your nearest beekeeping association, details can be found on the British Beekeepers Association website. They will put you in touch with their swarm liaison contact who will arrange a beekeeper to collect the swarm safely. The bees are normally quite calm when swarming.

Please remember to research your bee before calling a beekeeper, as it saves a lot of time and wasted journeys. In general, beekeepers will only be able to help with an accessible honey bee swarm.
 If your bees are definitely honey bees then please contact your local swarm collector.

Wasps
If you find a wasp nest it would be unwise to destroy it without a good reason. Wasps are controllers of far more injurious pests of forestry, agriculture and gardens. If the presence of a nest is causing no direct problems, then it is best left well alone. Wasp nests are abandoned at the end of the autumn.
Destruction of a wasp's nest should NOT be undertaken by untrained persons.

Collecting a swarm in a skep

Copyright Viv and Steve Moll, Brightwell Bees, 2009