Apparently, bees can’t keep a secret. It seems the local bees have been telling all their little bee friends about my edible garden and organic flowers. Of course that is a good thing. We all want pollinators in our gardens. But for the second time, a feral swarm has come to visit me.
When the first swarm appeared in my garden a few years ago, they moved on without any intervention from me. But after they left, I worried they would be exterminated by an uninformed person who would only think of them as a nuisance. I never learned their fate.
Now a second swarm has come to visit.
But this time I feel a little more confident on how to save them because over the last 2 years, I have interviewed several beekeepers, read several beekeeping books and even produced an entire TV episode about urban beekeeping.
The little ladies of this swarm were showing no signs of leaving. In fact, they were setting up house! (I say “ladies” because the worker bees are all female.)
This very small swarm was making honeycomb on an old antique ladder that I was using as a trellis for my hops. It was a nice spot for them – shaded and tucked away in the corner of my garden near my small pond for water.
I checked with my bee friend Corky (in Seattle) and he said that they could be an “after swarm” that was left behind with a new queen. This happens sometimes after the main swarm splits off from someone’s hive. It is unusual to have such a small swarm making honeycomb and difficult for them to survive.
Unfortunately, many people would call an exterminator at this point. But that is the wrong thing to do! There is a huge bee problem right now and their numbers are dwindling. As gardeners, we need to not only protect honey bees, but help spread the word of their importance.
Finding A Beekeeper:
I knew I needed to find a local beekeeper to take my bees and give them a new home.
A few years ago, it would be difficult to find a beekeeper who would come out for a small swarm. But today, it is easy! There are so many great backyard beekeeper organizations that a quick search on the Internet should turn up resources for you, no matter where you live.
Here in Los Angeles, I knew to turn to the Backwards Beekeepers. I have been reading about them for years and they are very dedicated to saving the bees. Two other local bee advocates are the husband and wife team of Honey Love who are working hard to legalize backyard beekeeping in urban areas like LA.
So one quick phone call later, a nearby beekeeper came over and collected the honeycomb in a bucket. He hung the bucket on my ladder with an opening so the bees who were out foraging would be able to get inside when they came back. Then at dusk, he returned and collected the entire swarm to take home.
If he had taken the swarm in the middle of the day, many of the bees out collecting nectar would have been left behind. By coming back at dusk, he was sure to get most of them.
Goodbye little bees. Have a good life in your new home!
About the Author
Theresa Loe blogs here about taking the garden full circle while striving for a more local, fresh-from-the-garden lifestyle. She is a TV producer, video host, freelance garden writer and a wrangler of chickens and children. (Not necessarily in that order.) For more information on these topics, you can subscribe to her free monthly newsletter.
Theresa Loe is the award- winning Co-Executive Producer & Canning Expert on Growing A Greener World TV. She blogs here about Living Homegrown®, local and fresh-from-the-garden. 
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Ms. Theresa,
You said: “I say ‘ladies’ because the worker bees are all female.” My question is how do you distinguish the female worker bees from the other males? And where are the males? And why don’t they “work?” And, and, and, OH MY! I’ll have to make a list of questions for ya! ; )
Another thing: I don’t think “many people would call an exterminator.” Most folks are well aware of Colony Collapse Disorder and know the important relationship between honeybee pollination and “every third bite of food” they take.
Lastly, KUDOS!! to ya for doin the right thing!
TC-
From what I understand about bees, all worker bees are female. The males only emerge to mate with the virgin queen one time (while flying in the air) and then they die. They apparently have no other purpose to the hive. I have a lot of funny comments I could make about that…but I think I will keep them to myself. LOL
On the exterminator – I was told by two different bee keepers that “most people call the exterminator” because they are afraid of the bees. Notice I said “people” as in the general population. If we are talking about gardeners, then no – they would NOT call the exterminator. Most gardeners are fully aware of the benefits of bees. But it seems to me that the average homeowner would not think their little swarm would make a difference in the big scheme of things.
And the other reason I made that comment is that the three neighbors I spoke to about my bees were each surprised that I had a beekeeper come out. They all said they would have just had them “taken care of” because they thought they were dangerous. Surprising? TOTALLY. So those conversations were a good way for me to educate them as well.
Thanks for stopping by TC!
Yes, that is surprising to hear Ms. Theresa. I wonder if it has anything to do with a rural vs. city concept of things? I live in a mostly rural area and just about everyone has a garden.
Ya know TC, I bet it does have to do with the rural vs. city situation. There are very few true gardeners here in the city. But at our farmstead up north, no one would EVER think about killing the bees.
All of our hives are now populated with local feral swarm bees. We tried commercial ‘Italian’ honey bees, but those hives weren’t nearly as strong, nor as seemingly Varroa mite resistant as the feral stock. I love swarm bees, and I’ve never had two swarm-catch experiences the same. Even though our bees produce less honey, they seem much hardier, and capable of surviving the winter months, when many hives struggle to survive. I hope your article encourages more people to call beekeepers, rather than exterminators, if they find a swarm in their yard. The bees need all the help they can get!
That is so interesting about the Italian honey bees not doing as well. But I guess it makes sense that local bees would be more resistant to local elements.
Love this post, Theresa! I wonder if I m ay share with you an article I write a while back for The Dirt on bee swarms.
link to bbbseed.com
And yes, gardeners should encourage as many native bees to their yards as possible because they’re not experiencing CCD (this is exclusive to the European bees only).
EXCELLENT article Chris. Thanks so much for sharing it here. I know my readers will love it too. And I love that you call yourself a mason beekeeper. That Rocks!
I’m a small urban beekeeper (four hives at my place, three with various neighbors). All of my bees are from wild-caught feral swarms. I really enjoy catching swarms. Sounds like a strange hobby, doesn’t it?
I think it sounds like the coolest hobby EVER and not any stranger than me keeping chickens as pets in the middle of Los Angeles. LOL
Good for you!
Oh, I forgot to share this link:
link to howsrobb.blogspot.com
Awesome post Lisa! I so enjoyed reading all about your bee adventures. I think your “hobby” is so exciting and fun.
Oh my gosh…you have the BEST gardening adventures! Seriously!
We’d been thinking about beekeeping for a while now but hubby’s still too busy with work at the moment and I’m allergic to stings so while I adore bees, I don’t want to have to handle them in case I do something stupid and get stung accidentally.
If we had a swarm, it’d force us to leap in and start beekeeping! We have many beekeeping friends who’ll help guide us.
Teresa,
I’m allergic too! And I am SO very bummed about it. I really wanted to keep bees. But each bee sting I get gives me a little bit worse reaction. I don’t think I can do it either. Bees are just so interesting to me.
~Theresa