BEES: What do you do when you see a swarm of honey bees? The North Central Pennsylvania Beekeepers Association has some advice.

First the don’ts — Don’t spray it with bug spray, disturb it, hose it down with water, hit it with a stick or call an exterminator.

“This is a natural process that bees go through every year,” they tell us, “sometimes even several times a year. Honey Bees are building up now after their winter losses. They are bringing in lots of nectar to make into the honey you eat. The honey bees feel crowded and need to expand.

“About half the Honey Bees leave their home with a queen to find a new home. Usually they go to a location in the open and send out scout bees to locate a new home. When the scout bees find a suitable location they all move on to that location.

“It is usually in the temporary location, which can last from minutes to a few days, that most people see them and they are easiest for a beekeeper to retrieve them.”

A honey bee swarm is not aggressive, and may move on by itself.

Here is what the association recommends you do: Call a beekeeper as soon as possible; observe it from a safe distance; take pictures, as it is educational.

“Contact a beekeeper and give them as much information about the location of the bees that you can. Do not know a beekeeper? You can enter the information right on our club website and it will go out to all the beekeepers that rescue Honey Bees. Go to ncpba.weebly.com

Click on Honey Bee Swarm rescue and fill out the form and send.

“No computer? No problem. Call your local Penn State Extension or call Joan Bradley at 814-697-7586

“Remember, we need those honey bees to have the great food we eat and to give us honey.”