By: Carl Varnadoe, Madison County Extension Coordinator
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Ah, spring! A time when a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of honey bee swarms. Honey bee swarms? That’s right, honey bee swarms. I am already getting calls about honey bees swarming.
Any time we see large numbers of flying insects, especially ones with stingers, we tend to get a bit concerned. However, honey bees are our friends. They are one of the most beneficial of all insects. Honey is humanity’s oldest sweet, and beeswax was the first plastic. Today, honey bees provide these and other valuable hive products. In addition, thousands of beekeepers in the United States keep bees for fun and profit.
Honey bees are important pollinators of apples, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupes, cucumbers, forage crops, kiwifruit, squash, watermelons and other vegetables. The annual contribution of honey bees to U.S. food production is more than $9 million.
Honey bee colonies reproduce by a process called swarming. During mid-winter, the queen begins laying eggs and the colony’s population grows. By spring, the nest is congested with many new bees. When the colony is large enough they raise a new queen and the old queen flies away accompanied by more than half the bees.
This flying swarm may temporarily cluster on an object, such as a fence post or building awning, while scout bees search for a permanent nest site. A hanging swarm may assume any shape, depending on the surface on which it is clustered. Most hanging swarms are round or oval, about the size of a basketball, and dark brown.
Swarms in the clustered stage are relatively gentle, and the risk of stings is low. Generally the bees will only be around temporarily and they will likely be gone before too long. A swarm usually relocates to a permanent nest such as a hollow tree, abandoned beekeeper’s hive, or inside a hollow wall within 24 hours. Nevertheless, common sense tells us to treat any swarm with caution.
If you should be fortunate enough to witness the site of a bee swarm, here are some options for dealing with it:
Do not disturb it. Keep people and pets away from the swarm. If the swarm is safely located away from animals and people, you may wait for it to fly away on its own.
If the swarm poses a real risk to people or animals, you may find a local beekeeper who will remove it. However, not all beekeepers collect swarms, and some may charge a fee for this service. Your county Extension agent should be able to refer you to local beekeepers that collect swarms.
Africanized bees have never been confirmed in our area, but if you encounter an unusually aggressive swarm of bees it is possible they are Africanized bees. If you suspect the bees are Africanized bees, do not ask a beekeeper to collect the swarm. Instead, report aggressive honey bee swarms to your county Extension agent or state Department of Agriculture. We may want to collect the swarm for official testing.
Remember, honey bees are beneficial insects and for the most part are not aggressive. However, they will defend their nest if they perceive a threat. If you encounter flying honey bees, calmly walk away from them and never swat at them. Swatting only threatens them and increases the chance of a sting. If you have any questions about honey bees call me. I’ll do what I can to alleviate your fears and make you feel better about sharing your air space with honey bees.