Hello, everyone! It’s that time of the year again – BEE SWARM SEASON! If anyone happens to see a random large grouping of bees this Spring, please call a beekeeper ASAP. Beekeepers, like myself, will come and safely collect them from your property at no charge, give the bees a new permanent wooden hive, add them to our own personal apiary, or give them to new beekeeper friends. Most of us are not commercial beekeepers – we simply do this as a hobby and for the love of bees.
Why Do Bees Swarm?
There are numerous reasons why a bee hive might swarm, but it often comes as a result of a strong hive that survived over the winter. Swarming is a means by which bees propagate, and the ball of bees that you see is roughly half of a previous hive that split in two. The new group of swarming bees has temporarily landed in the spot that you see while they search for a new home. They are very gentle in this state (as they don’t have a home to protect), but it is still important that you don’t try to spray the swarm with any chemicals and/or attempt to agitate them (i.e. put away that flamethrower). The best thing is to contact an experienced bee keeper to collect them right away before they end up in unwanted places (like the wall or soffit of your home).
Save the bees! Find local beekeepers on places like Nextdoor.com, the swarm list at DenverBee.org, the swarm hotline at ColoradoBeekeepers.org, etc… For those of you outside of Colorado, just search online for bee clubs that do free swarm removals.
How Much Does it Cost?
Pick-up of swarms is completely FREE and you should never pay anyone to have this done. Find someone local who is not collecting the swarm to sell it off to someone else and make a quick dollar! Feel free to ask them when you call, “Do you keep the bees yourself or do you sell them to local beekeepers?”. I am in the camp that believes that selling a swarm of bees is the most unethical thing you can do as a beekeeper – the reason is that there are hundreds of beekeepers who need them for their own empty hives (many never get a chance to collect a swarm during the season) and because there is no way of knowing the health/age of the queen bee and hive when you collect a swarm. Local beekeepers are in this for the love of the bees, growing their own apiary, and/or helping others get started with hives of their own.
Please share with your friends and let them know what to do when they see a swarm this Spring.
Thanks, everyone!