Honeybees are not pests. That is the starting point for every bee call we take in Newcastle. From the mature gardens of Jesmond, Gosforth, Heaton and South Gosforth, to the canopy of Jesmond Dene and Paddy Freeman’s, to the cavity-wall housing across Walker, Byker, Fenham, Kenton and Kingston Park, JG Pest Control responds to bee callouts with a referral-first policy: honeybee swarms go to local Newcastle and District Beekeepers’ Association collectors free of charge, bumblebee nests are almost always left alone to die out naturally in September, and only confirmed wasps or yellow jackets (which the public regularly mistake for bees) are exterminated. JG is open every UK bank holiday except Christmas Day, every weekend, early morning to late evening, and a settled swarm cluster needs a same-day response because the bees will move on within 24 to 48 hours.
Newcastle bee and swarm calls: 01916 078102
Free phone identification. Honeybee swarm collection referred free of charge to your local Newcastle BKA collector. RSPH (BPCA) Level 2 certified and trainee technicians.
Newcastle’s bee map is shaped by the wooded denes that thread through the suburbs and the unusually large garden squares of the Victorian and Edwardian villa belt. Jesmond, South Gosforth, High Heaton, Gosforth and the streets surrounding Jesmond Dene have hundreds of cavity-prone chimney stacks, soffit boxes and bird boxes where established honeybee colonies occasionally set up, and the Dene itself acts as a corridor for swarm clusters drifting in from feral colonies in the surrounding woodland. The garden squares of Heaton, Sandyford and Brandling Village produce a steady summer flow of bumblebee nests under decking, in compost heaps and behind sheds. And the inter-war and post-war cavity-wall housing across Walker, Byker, Fenham, Kenton, Westerhope, Kingston Park and Newbiggin Hall sees regular tree bumblebee activity in bird boxes, air bricks and soffit corners from late May through August.
The Newcastle bee season runs from late April through to September with two clear peaks. The first is the swarm peak in mid May to late June (slightly later in the North East than in southern England). The second is the summer bumblebee and solitary bee activity peak through July and August. This page sets out exactly how JG handles each of those calls across Newcastle, and why our default answer is referral or leave-alone rather than treatment.
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Honeybees, Bumblebees and the Species That Are Often Mistaken for Bees in Newcastle
Almost every Newcastle bee callout we take starts with a species question, often answered on the phone from a photograph. The European honeybee (Apis mellifera) is 12 to 15 mm, slim, golden-brown, lightly hairy, and lives in a permanent colony of 20,000 to 80,000 workers. A swarm in May or June is a normal sign of colony division, not a problem. Bumblebees come in around 24 UK species, most commonly the buff-tailed, white-tailed, red-tailed and tree bumblebee, and are 10 to 25 mm, very hairy, with bold yellow, white or red bands. Tree bumblebees (Bombus hypnorum, a relatively recent UK arrival) are the most common loft and bird box visitor in Newcastle and rarely need treatment. Solitary bees, particularly red mason bees and leafcutter bees, are small, non-aggressive single-female nesters that use old mortar joints and bare soil and pose no realistic stinging risk.
What the public most commonly mistakes for a bee at the back door in July is actually a common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) or a German wasp (Vespula germanica). Wasps are smaller, hairless, with a hard yellow-and-black banded body and a very narrow waist. We treat wasps. We do not treat honeybees or bumblebees as a default position.
Honeybee swarm in your Newcastle garden? Call our team on 01916 078102 for a free Newcastle BKA referral, or contact us here.
What a Honeybee Swarm Looks Like in Newcastle
- A football-sized to rugby-ball-sized cluster of bees on a fence, hedge, lamp post or low branch
- Often arrives suddenly mid morning, accompanied by loud flight noise for 10 to 20 minutes, then settles quietly
- Cluster is the queen surrounded by 3,000 to 30,000 worker bees
- Bees are docile in this state because they have no nest or stored honey to defend
- Cluster usually moves on to a permanent home within 24 to 48 hours once scout bees confirm a site
Our Newcastle Bee Process, Step by Step
1. Free phone identification. Send a photo, we confirm species. In Newcastle that usually means honeybee swarm, tree bumblebee in a loft or bird box, or a misidentified wasp. 2. If honeybee swarm: free referral to the local Newcastle BKA swarm collector covering your postcode, usually attended within hours. 3. If cavity-living honeybee colony (chimney, soffit box, cavity wall) in a Victorian Jesmond villa or interwar Gosforth semi: site assessment, relocation discussed with a beekeeper where the structure allows it, structural treatment only as a last resort and only with the homeowner in full agreement. 4. Bumblebees: almost always leave alone, colony ends naturally September, then seal the entry. 5. Confirmed wasp or yellow jacket: standard same-day wasp nest removal.
Call us now on 01916 078102 or contact us here to book a Newcastle bee or swarm callout.
Honeybees Saved, Wasps Removed. Call our Newcastle team on 01916 078102 .
When You Actually Do Need Professional Bee Removal in Newcastle
Most Newcastle bee calls do not result in treatment. There are, however, specific situations where professional removal is the right answer:
- Aggressive defence behaviour: repeated stinging incidents from a cavity-living honeybee colony, usually triggered by the colony outgrowing the cavity in its third or fourth year
- Anaphylactic occupant: a confirmed allergic family member, tenant or staff member in the building, particularly where the nest entry is near a doorway, window or fire escape
- Structural risk: a large established honeybee colony in a chimney where comb is collapsing into the flue, or in a cavity wall where comb is melting and staining interior plaster
- Failed relocation: a colony where a Newcastle BKA beekeeper has visited, attempted a cut-out, and confirmed the colony cannot be saved
- Public access site: a nest at a school, nursery, restaurant terrace or public entrance where members of the public cannot be reliably kept away
In every case the decision is documented in writing with the property owner or managing agent before any treatment is carried out.
Bee Hot Spots across Newcastle
The Newcastle bee map is shaped by the wooded denes and the city’s mature Victorian and Edwardian villa belt. Jesmond, South Gosforth and the streets running along Jesmond Dene have hundreds of cavity-prone chimney stacks, soffit boxes and bird boxes where established honeybee colonies most often set up, and where swarm calls peak in mid May to late June. The Dene corridor and Paddy Freeman’s pond surround act as a flight path for swarms drifting from feral colonies in the woodland canopy. Heaton, High Heaton, Sandyford and Brandling Village add a steady summer flow of bumblebee nests under decking, in compost heaps and behind sheds.
Out across the inter-war and post-war cavity-wall ring (Walker, Byker, Wallsend border, Fenham, Cowgate, Kenton, Westerhope, Kingston Park, Newbiggin Hall, Throckley) the picture shifts to tree bumblebee colonies in air bricks, soffit corners and bird boxes from late May through August. Gosforth High Street, Brunton Park, Hazlerigg and the northern fringe towards Wide Open and Dudley pick up occasional swarm clusters drifting south from the rural belt. Honeybee swarm calls in Newcastle peak across late May, the first half of June and again briefly in late August when secondary cast swarms occasionally emerge.
Areas We Cover across Newcastle for Bee Calls
Our RSPH (BPCA) Level 2 certified and trainee technicians provide bee identification, honeybee swarm referrals and (only where necessary) bee removal across Newcastle and the wider Tyne and Wear area, including:
- City Centre and Grainger Town
- Quayside
- Ouseburn
- Jesmond
- South Gosforth
- Gosforth
- High Heaton
- Heaton
- Sandyford
- Brandling Village
- Spital Tongues
- Arthur’s Hill
- Fenham
- Cowgate
- Kenton
- Westerhope
- Kingston Park
- Newbiggin Hall
- Walker
- Byker
- Walkergate
- Wallsend (border)
- Benton
- Longbenton
- Forest Hall
- Brunton Park
- Hazlerigg
- Wide Open
- Throckley
- Newburn
If your area is not listed, we still cover it. Call 01916 078102 for bee identification and (where needed) bee removal anywhere in Newcastle. For the city service overview see Newcastle pest control, the county picture Tyne and Wear pest control, and species detail in our bees and hornets hub.
Frequently Asked Questions: Bee Removal and Swarm Collection in Newcastle
I have a swarm of bees in my Newcastle garden. How quickly can you help?
Same day in nearly every case. Send a photo to confirm honeybee, and we will put you in touch with your local Newcastle and District Beekeepers’ Association swarm collector free of charge. Settled swarms are docile but tend to move on naturally within 24 to 48 hours, so we treat them as priority calls.
Do you kill bees?
Not as a default. We do not destroy honeybee swarms (these go to a local Newcastle BKA collector free of charge), we almost never treat bumblebees (colonies die out naturally in September), and we do not treat solitary bees. We do treat common wasps and yellow jackets, which are regularly mistaken for bees in Newcastle in July and August.
Do you charge for the call out?
Phone identification and beekeeper referral are free. If a site visit is needed (cavity-living honeybee colony assessment, confirmed wasp nest treatment), the call out is quoted up front before we visit. We do not quote treatment work without seeing photographs or confirming the species first.
Are bumblebees protected in the UK?
Bumblebees are not strictly legally protected as a species in the same way that, for example, all British wild birds are protected, but they are a critical pollinator and JG will not treat a bumblebee nest without a clear welfare reason (anaphylactic occupant, nest blocking a fire escape, etc.). The default position on every Newcastle bumblebee call is to leave the colony alone and let it die out naturally in September.
How do I tell a wasp from a bee?
Wasps are smaller (around 12 mm worker), hairless, with a hard glossy yellow-and-black banded body and a very obvious narrow waist. Honeybees are similar in size but lightly hairy, golden brown rather than bright yellow, and have a more rounded body. Bumblebees are much larger, very fuzzy, and obviously bee-shaped. A clear photo on the phone is usually enough to tell.
I have bees in the loft of my Jesmond or Heaton terrace. What should I do?
Most likely tree bumblebees (Bombus hypnorum). They have colonised Newcastle’s Victorian and Edwardian terraces over the last 15 years and are now the single most common loft bee in the city. Non-aggressive, colony dies out naturally in September, the right answer is to leave them alone and seal the entry once they are gone.
Are you open at weekends and bank holidays in Newcastle?
Yes. We are open every weekend and every UK bank holiday with one honest exception: Christmas Day. The phone line is staffed early in the morning through to late in the evening. Honeybee swarms are particularly common on May and June bank holiday weekends and we handle the beekeeper referral on the same call.
Honeybee swarm or bee nest in Newcastle? Call 01916 078102 for free phone identification and a same-day Newcastle BKA referral where needed.
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Most Common Pests
Other Common Pests
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