An exciting day in the grounds department yesterday. We found a swarm of bees near the 15th green. Bobbi quickly ran into action. Below is the video on catching the swarm:
A swarm of bees can be exhilarating. Not to worry, this is actually the most docile time of a colony’s life. The reason being they have no home or brood (babies) to defend because they are on a search for a new home. Swarm season usually is for about 3 to 4 weeks in early spring when daytime temperatures are above 50 degrees.
A healthy colony will “throw” a swarm when the mother colony has a strong healthy queen and enough workers to support the hive. The queen will actually lay between 5 and 8 new queens, then she will take thousands to tens of thousands of bees with her when she leaves. This allows a new virgin queen to be born into the old hive. Since the queen bee has already mated for life, and is about twice the size of a worker bee with wings half their size, the queen cannot fly very far. This is when you will come across a swarm cluster. The cluster will gather around their queen protecting her while 40 to 50 scouts are out searching for a new home. Of the swarm cluster is not collected by a beekeeper, it will eventually fly away and settle into their new home.
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| A swarm collected near the 15th green |
Yesterday, we captured this swarm and gave it a new home here on the property. We estimated about 15,000 bees are in this new colony. The added bees will keep our local plant community thriving!
If you should come across a swarm it is still a good idea to keep your distance, they are still wild creatures and you cannot predict how they will act. You can also call a local beekeeper (like me) to come and remove the bees. Any beekeeper will be thrilled to give them a new home.
Bobbi Storrs
Pinehurst's "Queen Bee"
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