HOT, humid and thundery weather has meant an increase in swarming bees over the last month but this is not unusual, according to environmental health officers.
Early summer and late summer are the periods when the most calls are received by the council and pest control companies about swarms of bees.
The advice is to leave them alone if you can, and they will leave you alone.
Technical officer for West Devon Borough Council?s environmental health department Dave Arscott said mild weather resulted in more bees surviving, hence there were more nests in chimneys and roof spaces.
?We have to remember that because of the increase in housing we are encroaching on the bees? natural habitat and therefore they pitch in people?s roofs,? he said.
?Occasionally, swarms of bees can be a problem when they land in the wrong place and there are lots of children around.?
Mr Arscott said the council was there purely to give advice and arbitrate: ?Beekeepers can sometimes remove the whole swarm and relocate it to a hive to produce honey, or pest control officers will deal with the problem.?
He added that once swarms had settled down, they rarely cause a problem and although people may find a few dead bees in the house in the first instance, it would soon stop.
?People are less tolerant these days but they will find if they leave the bees alone, the bees will leave them alone,? he said.