What to do when bees swarm
It’s swarm season, with honeybees on the hunt for new homes. About 30,000 or so of them paid a visit to a Red Beach early learning centre, at the Hibiscus Coast in Auckland, meaning the toddlers had to spend the day inside while the owner Louise Louden waited for a beekeeper from Puhoi Bushman Honey to come and remove them.
Top marks to Louise for doing exactly the right thing - leaving the bees alone and calling for an experienced beekeeper to help out.
But go to the bottom of the class whoever set alight a swarm that they found in the Auckland innercity suburb of Kingsland.
Hobbyist beekeeper Jae Park, who was called to the site after the swarm was reported, found the ‘‘really upsetting’’ sight of thousands of dead and dying bees on the ground, the majority being blackened and charred.
‘‘There was the distinct smell of petrol, like someone had poured gas on them and lit them on fire,’’ Park said.
The best thing to do if you come across a swarm of bees is keep out of the way, says Auckland beekeeper Maureen Conquer, who’s the regional representative for Oceania for Apimondia, the socalled ‘‘United Nations of beekeepers’ federations’’.
Bees swarming is a natural occurrence in spring and early summer - in New Zealand swarms occur from August until January - and it happens when the queen starts laying more eggs dues to the increase in flowers and pollen.
The hive starts to get overcrowded and a new queen is born.
So the old queen and her entourage of worker bees leave the hive and start looking for a new place to live.
The ‘‘swarm’’ or solid mass of buzzing bees occurs because the worker bees hang in mass around the queen to ensure she stays warm and safe.
‘‘It might look a bit scary but the bees are in non-aggressive mode. They are just looking for a new house.
‘‘If you see a swarm, get in touch with your nearest beekeeping club,’’ Conquer says.
‘‘They will not attack people. In fact bees will only ever attack if they think they are being provoked.’’ DO: Leave it alone. DON’T: Set it on fire.