The Post

You’re in your backyard and suddenly the sky darkens due to a cloud of bees. A giant clump of bees lands on your bush, your car, or whatever object that they choose. Is it the beginning of the apocalypse?

No, it is a honeybee swarm looking for a new home. Honeybees are affectionately known as a “superorganism” as the smallest unit is a colony. It cannot survive as an individual bee, but rather all are necessary for their survival.

Why do they swarm? After a long winter eating honey to stay warm in the hive where they keep it at 95 degrees, the queen begins to lay a large number of eggs. These eggs hatch and undergo their metamorphosis into full-fledged bees. The colony gets crowded and the workers decide it is time to make a new home. In preparation for swarming, the workers turn several of the eggs into future queens, princesses so to speak, by feeding them “Royal jelly.” They also restrict food to the queen, who now becomes thin enough to fly.

When the time is right, usually a warm, sunny day, the queen takes flight with about half of the colony. This swarm will try to re-establish itself in a hollow of a tree. If they cannot find an appropriate tree, they choose other locations, such as your garage, your house, or any other space that looks good to them. In the former hive, the princesses emerge, go on a mating flight and then come back to take over the hive. However, princesses are jealous of each other and only one can become queen so there are fights to the death, with only one victor to reign over the colony.

What should you do about a honeybee swarm? Contact a beekeeper, like Dr. Mark Gallo, professor of biology, who can safely capture them. Are swarms dangerous? Left alone, typically no. Recognize that they are looking for a home, and it is typically a good idea to not make it your home. The tiniest crack or crevice is all that is needed for them to move in. Once they are in a house it is challenging to extract them. You have to open up walls or other spaces to cut out the comb and remove the bees. DO NOT try to kill them, because you will most likely not kill them all and, if you somehow are successful, you will have a large amount of wet, dripping honey, which will attract new bees, or lead to mold growth that can ruin your wall.

Why should you care about bees? Nearly all food is insect-pollinated, with rice, wheat and corn being about the only things that are not. Are bees endangered? There have been great die-offs in the past few years due to pests, parasites, and pesticides. So please be kind to your bees; we all count on their survival for a sustainable future.

Dr. Mark Gallo, Professor of Biology
Dan McMann, Facilities Planner
Co-Chairs of Sustainability Committee