(Supplied/Scott Malo)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

buzz buzz buzzin'

Bee swarm scares, but shines light on importance of our apian friends

Aug 1, 2019 | 2:28 PM

Residents were abuzz on Wednesday in Red Deer’s Devonshire neighbourhood where a swarm of bees had taken over a tree on one family’s front lawn.

Scott Malo says his wife described it to him over the phone as something out of the television show Stranger Things.

After taking a deep breath, pest control and the Red Deer Beekeepers Association (RDBA) were both called in.

“The pest control guy didn’t want to kill them or harm them because they were honey bees,” Malo recalls. “It was quite wild. I’ve never seen anything like that before, and it was a fluke they happened to pick our tree.”

Malo says the beekeeper told him they had likely just stopped to rest and would have eventually moved on.

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Carol Hoskin, a board member with the RDBA, says when one of their members attends a swarm, the bees will be taken back to someone’s apiary to be raised domestically.

“This happens all season and every season. The original or the mother hive will get too full and they’ll create a new queen, then the population explodes when the new queen hatches, and the old queen takes half the population and leaves the hive. That’s the swarm,” Hoskin explains.

“They’ll go hang out on a tree, the side of your house or a car while scout bees go and look for a new home. A swarm is a beehive in waiting basically. It’s their natural way to reproduce and expand the size of their hive, which is excellent. It scares people and seems concerning, but it’s not. We love seeing it.”

Malo admits when all was said and done, his family had a new appreciation for how not dangerous bees are, even when they’re in a swarm.

“It was very alarming and because we have young kids, we were a little bit scared about it, but after the experience, seeing how docile they can be when they’re sugared up and how calm the bee guy was, I don’t know why anybody would be afraid of bees,” he says, save for those allergic to them.

“They don’t want to hurt you. If they sting you, they will die and that dwindles their population,” Hoskin astutely points out.

“In a swarm, they have nothing to protect. They’re just covering the queen waiting for a new home. The only time they get angry enough to sting is when you’re in there inspecting and disturbing them. Otherwise, they’re just there to make honey. They’re important to the ecosystem too, obviously with plants needing pollination, plus honey is a good thing to have.”

In the meantime, Hoskin is hopeful The City of Red Deer will eventually implement rules for urban beekeeping, which is currently prohibited within city limits because there is no bee bylaw.

Inspections and Licensing Manager Erin Stuart says The City will be doing work in 2020 to consolidate its dog, cat and urban chicken bylaws into one, while also incorporating new rules for keeping bees.

The City of Edmonton adopted an urban beekeeping bylaw in 2015.

If you are experiencing a swarm, you can let the RDBA know through their website. A number of people will receive the message before the job is quickly delegated to one of the association’s many trained volunteers.

In most cases, swarm removal is free of charge.

More information on beekeeping in our province is on the Government of Alberta’s website.