Marvelous things are happening outside now that spring is here. The flowers are blooming, our lawns have greened up, the trees are again full of green leaves, and the weather is more comfortable for outside activities. Something else that is happening outside that you most likely have not noticed is that honeybees have increased their activities. They are now busy gathering nectar for their hives and in the process of pollinating plants as they move from flower to flower.

Honeybees are the most important insect known to man. They are probably best known for the delicious honey they produce. But their most significant value is that they add billions of dollars of income to our fruit and vegetable industry each year by pollinating plants as they gather nectar to make honey. Without pollination from honeybees, the yields of most of our fruits and vegetables would be drastically lower than they are, and in the case of some fruits and vegetables, there would be no production at all.

Of particular interest at this time of the year is that hives of honeybees will often divide, creating what is commonly called a "swarm." People encountering a swarm of honeybees are often alarmed and unfortunately take drastic actions to eliminate the swarm.

Swarming is a natural occurrence for honeybees. Honeybees are social insects just like termites and ants. There is only one queen in a colony. The purpose of this queen is to lay eggs that will hatch to produce more bees to replace worker bees as they die off. Most of the eggs in a colony are females, and these females perform the duties of caring for eggs and the new bee larva as they hatch, caring for the hive, or exploring the countryside to gather nectar for the production of honey.

For brief periods each year, additional queens will develop in a hive. If they are not killed by the current queen, these new queens will recruit some of the bees from the colony to leave with her to start a new colony. Sometimes as many of five or six new queens will develop and leave the hive, each taking some of the worker bees with them. Each swarm will establish a new colony.

This new queen, along with all the worker bees she recruited to leave with her, travel across the countryside in one big swarm looking for a new home. The swarm of bees will often pause on a tree limb, post, mailbox, side of a building, or any other convenient place while scouts go out to find a good place to set up their permanent residence. While they rest, some of the bees may venture out to gather nectar to feed the other bees. During this time, the bees are very docile and will rarely sting unless they are provoked.

Once a suitable site is located, the new colony will move into that site and begin the normal duties of a beehive. They begin making wax to construct cells, which hold the honey, and to provide sites for the queen to lay her eggs. This new site may be in an abandoned vehicle or piece of farm machinery, a hollow tree, or even inside the walls of your home. Most times these hives go unnoticed unless they become established in a building that is used by humans such as a home, barn, or other outbuilding.

Because of increasing problems with pests associated with honeybees, the number of natural colonies of honeybees found in the wild has decreased each year. Hive beetles, wax beetles, and various kinds of mites have become severe problems, and in many instances, only those hives that are managed by trained beekeepers are able to survive. Beekeepers can use approved pesticides to prevent these pests from killing their bees or destroying their hives.

Because of this it is very important that swarms of bees be protected and, if possible, located to a commercial hive that can be properly managed to protect them from pests. When honeybees are swarming, they rarely cause problems for people, so they should never be killed with chemicals or harmed in any way.

We are fortunate that members of the Robeson County Beekeepers Association have taken a special interest in capturing swarms of honeybees and establishing them in commercial hives. In fact, so far this year this group has already captured 23 swarms of bees in the county.

If you encounter a swarm of bees hanging from your mailbox, from a tree limb in your yard, or anywhere else, please call the Extension Service at 910-671-3276. Martin Brewington, one of our staff members, is coordinator for the Robeson County Beekeepers Association. He will coordinate with the members of this association to go to the location as quickly as possible to capture and relocate the swarm.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 5/19/04