Saving bee swarms

Wednesday, Apr 29, 2015 10:56 AM Updated Wednesday, Apr. 29, 2015 11:09 AM

If captured in time, colonies can survive

Tina Sebestyen of the Four Corners Beekeepers Association prepares to remove a swarm of bees from Catherine Boyle's backyard on East Fourth Avenue. Sebestyen collects the bees in a wire mesh container and ensures the swarm's survival.

Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald

A bee swarm hangs from a branch in Catherine Boyle’s backyard on East Fourth Avenue. Tina Sebestyen of the Four Corners Beekeepers Association removed the swarm to make sure they survive. Bees swarm in the spring as they form new colonies. The bees will hang on a branch while scouts search for a place to establish a new hive.

Shaun Stanley/ Durango Herald

Tina Sebestyen of the Four Corners Beekeepers Association examines a bee swarm in Catherine Boyle’s backyard on East Fourth Avenue before removing it. By removing it, Sebestyen ensures the swarm’s survival. “Swarms are nature’s way of making more bee colonies,” she said.

Shaun Stanley/ Durango Herald

This is the time of year when Tina Sebestyen may have to put down her cabinet-making tools in order to rescue a swarm of honey bees.

Like Tuesday when she was called to remove a swarm from an apple tree in the backyard of Catherine Boyle's house near downtown Durango.

“It's a little early this year, but they're sure going strong,” Sebestyen said. “Last year, we had only four swarms all year, but this year we've had six in the past week.”

If a swarm can be captured and relocated successfully, the world is a winner because of the huge role that bees play in agriculture, Sebestyen said. She is the swarm dispatcher for the Four Corners Beekeepers Association who sends someone to pick up a swarm.

Swarming bees in the spring is a natural occurrence, Sebestyen said. Colonies are growing and the bees become aware of crowding, she said.

At a certain point, about half of the colony and a newly emerging queen leave the hive for more ample quarters, but they don't have space reserved anywhere, Sebestyen said. So they hang in a cluster from a tree while scouts reconnoiter.

When the scouts find a new location, often in the eaves or attics of houses, the entire swarm takes wing in an instant.

Before the flight occurs is when humans can help, she said. If a swarm is captured and put in a hive, a beekeeper can feed the colony and monitor it for health.

At Boyle's house, Sebestyen climbed a ladder and with a goose feather swept the clump of bees into a wire-mesh container. The bees that weren't captured flew wildly around the branch but slowly adhered to the outside of the wire-mesh container, telling Sebestyen that the queen was inside.

Otherwise, they would have continued to circle the branch or looked on the ground where a handful of bees had fallen, Sebestyen said.

The bees aren't aggressive at this stage because they are not defending honey.

The colony needs food immediately to draw comb, even before they produce young. Sebestyen planned to take the swarm with her to provide the bees a supply of sugar water.

“Swarms are nature's way of making more bee colonies,” Sebestyen said. “A vigorous queen and plenty of food for winter will get a colony established.”

Unfortunately, only 25 percent of swarms overall survive, she said.

daler@durangoherald.com