Ballarat Backyard Beekeepers' Amanda Collins and Scott Denno have had a busy spring keeping up with calls from members of the public asking for swarms of bees to be relocated.

Ms Collins said that within the last fortnight alone they have relocated more than 30 swarms of European honeybees across the City of Ballarat - from gardens, schools and shopfronts - in what she called "a pretty active season".

"This spring season has been really good for honeybees," she said.

"The weather and rain we have had together with spring flowering of flowers and trees and the pollen and nectar they provide have given a real boost to bee colonies and their appetite to swarm after they have outgrown their space."

With plenty of food to eat bees have been actively reproducing, meaning many are outgrowing their hives and are leaving in search of another home.

When the colony grows too big for their home, such as a knoll in a tree in the case of a wild colony, they search for a new one - often settling in the warmth of a shed, outbuilding or even a possum, bird or bat box.

Ms Collins said there were a few instances of bee swarms being found in wildlife boxes this year.

"People install possum, bat and bird boxes anticipating these animals will live in them but honeybees find them extremely attractive.

"They are an excellent size and shape and in locations they really like so they will take over those nesting structures put there for Australian native animals."

Ms Collins explained the hive operated as "an organism in itself".

Once it is leaning towards outgrowing the hive, part of the colony begins planning to leave. The queen is slimmed down to be able to fly - as other than her mating flights as a virgin queen, she has remained in the hive or box.

She is accompanied by some of the young nurse bees who have gorged themselves on honey so they have enough stores to start a new colony, as well as other bees with the capacity to produce beeswax for comb.

"People will see thousands of bees flying around looking for their new home. They will often settle on a branch and the bees will cluster in a kind of tight ball shape."

At the beginning of spring swarms are released by the mother colony or hive and it is at this point when the swarms are the largest.

Ms Collins said bees were "not aggressive or defensive" and unlikely to sting when in a swarm or cluster formation and would only become aggressive if sprayed with a hose or insect spray in an effort to disperse them.

"In general, they're very docile and passive because they don't have a hive structure to protect. They've got all the honey they need and they've got the queen. The queen will be on the outside of the colony, on the outside of the swarm, fanning pheromones to keep the cluster together."

She said the best decision was to call a beekeeper to collect them, put them in a box and move them to a safe place.

Swarms are typically described in 'ball sizes' rather than estimated number of bees, Ms Collins explained.

"To give us an understanding about the size of the swarm so we can select an appropriate box to put them in we ask people if it is the size of a soccer ball, a football or a basketball," she said.

Boxing the bees to relocate them can sometimes be quite a process.

"During the day we will leave a box or a hive there. We will either shake the bees into the box or with the owner's permission we will snip off a branch and lower them into the box. Sometimes you need to shake them onto the ground and they will march into the box.

"But sometimes it doesn't work because they set up house in weird locations and it becomes trickier. Then you might need a shovel and a little brush to brush them in."

The beekeepers then return after sunset, when the foragers will have returned to the colony, to close the box and relocate it.

The bees are then taken to a special bee nursery.

"We monitor them and check for any pests and diseases and make sure they are happy and healthy," Ms Collins said.

After a period of time, sometimes with a new queen, they will be introduced to their migratory hive. At the moment it is over near Talbot but the bees are moved based on what is flowering - whether Eucalyptus or a crop like Canola or Clover.

Ms Collins and Mr Denno have been beekeepers for almost a decade after a work colleague relocated a hive from his backyard to their former property at Navigators.

"From there the one hive became two and it just escalated and we've got about 80 hives now."

Spring and summer are the busiest periods for beekeepers, who move hives around for pollination. This includes up to the Sunraysia district to pollinate almonds each year. Ms Collins said European honeybees were "pretty awesome", especially for their role in pollinating fruits, nuts and seeds.

Australia has been fortunate not to have an outbreak of the devastating Varroa Destructor parasite, which has been found in every other continent.

"We all need to stay really vigilant about detecting any opportunities where it might be able to come in through our ports," she said.

Aside from the European species, there are also Australian native bees that play a "very valuable and important part in the ecosystem".

"Australian native bees are also a really important part of our diverse landscape but some of them, like blue-banded bees, leafcutter bees and cuckoo bees, are under threat from things like loss of habitat and pesticide use," Ms Collins said.

Native bees found in Victoria live solitary lives and do not form colonies.

To enlist the help of a beekeeper, email backyardbeesballarat@gmail.com

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