Not all buzzing is ‘murder hornets.’ Beekeepers will help you figure out what you’ve got
With summer underway, the Mt. Baker Beekeepers Association is here to help with swarm removal free of charge if there is a swarm of honey bees near your home or business.
“The free service, we do it for the public and for the bees,” Les Scott, a board member in the Beekeeper’s Association, told The Bellingham Herald.
Recently, a new predator to bees has emerged in the United States, the Asian giant hornet. Scott said the beekeepers are providing the free service not only to protect the bees from these predators known as ‘murder hornets’ but also to avoid people mistaking a clump of bees for these predators and killing them.
Scott said that the beekeepers recently went to an apartment complex to retrieve a swarm and the landlord had already sprayed them all, leaving just a pile of dead honey bees.
There are several types of bumblebees, but Scott said the beekeepers association is primarily concerned with honey bees.
Bees normally do not survive through multiple winter seasons due to varroa mites in the United States that weaken the bees, according to Scott. However, as the temperature rises, the bees come out to play.
“This is swarm season when it first starts heating up into summer, that’s when bees naturally multiply,” Scott explained. “They’ll create a replacement queen and then over half the hive will take off and form a clump. When they’re in that clump, they’re sending out scout bees to find a home where they can live.
“Anytime you see a clump of bees, those are pretty much the friendliest bees you’re going to come across. They might be really active but they’re all full because they fill up on honey before they leave the hive just to prepare for having a few days without food.”
Scott said that any bee with “fuzz” or hairs on it is considered a good, friendly bee. A common misconception is people confusing bees and wasps, which have very different functions according to Scott.
Honey bees only attack and sting someone when they feel threatened, according to Scott, because after they sting someone, they die shortly after.
“All bees — if you interfere with what they’re doing, you get close to their home or they feel endangered, they might sting you,” Scott said. “Wasps and hornets will attack in a group. Anything that is living in the ground especially you want to be more wary of.
“You can actually stick your hand in a swarm of bees and they normally won’t sting. That’s their last act and they know that,” Scott continued. “They’re giving their lives to protect the hive so that’s the last thing that they want to do.”
Honey bees are friends, not foes, as they pollinate plants and flowers around Bellingham and create a better ecosystem. If you happen to spot a swarm of bees near you or someone you know, contact the Mt. Baker Beekeepers Association to not only help yourself but the bees as well.
“They serve us all so we want to take care of them,” Scott said.