Swarm Traps
Happy Bee Season!
As the trees begin to flower and pollen is produced in abundance, we can safely say that bee season is here. Old forager worker honeybees, born last fall, who survived the winter’s cold, have emerged to find different pollen sources. You may think of tree flowers as being the Redbud, Tulip Poplar and Bradford Pear’s beautifully colored flowers, but the first trees to produce pollen are the Maple (Figure 1) and Elm trees (Figure 2), with their oddly shaped catkin flowers. Catkins can be either male or female and pollinate via wind, although honeybees graciously collect their pollens for food. These wind-borne pollens are the reason for the high pollen counts and perhaps your allergy symptoms.
Figure 1. Maple catkins; Figure 2. Elm catkins
We can tell that the bees are collecting pollen because foraging workers return with brightly colored pollen pants (Figure 3) in various shades of creamy white, bright yellow, and dark red, with each color representing a different pollen source (Figure 4). However, she does not mix pollens between sources, which makes her a rather effective pollinator. When she goes out to collect maple pollen, she collects only maple pollen, allowing the pollen from one species of flower to go directly to the same species, ensuring fertilization.
Figure 3. Pollen is transported back to the hive on the bee’s corbiculae, which look like little yellow pants
Figure 4. Pollen colors correspond to pollen source
What do the bees need all this pollen for? Pollen is rich in protein, which allows them to produce a protein-rich substance, known as royal jelly. They feed the royal jelly to their developing brood, allowing for their population size to increase. The abundance of food and increase in population signals to the colony that it is time to reproduce.
Honeybee reproduction is like binary cell division, whereas the colony splits in two. The old queen and half of the colony leave the hive, which is called a swarm. The swarm will land on a branch for a day or so until scout bees within the swarm find a suitable location. Swarms are very vulnerable in this stage and are generally not aggressive, so don’t freak out. If you see a swarm, I am happy to come and scoop them up, given that they are in an accessible spot.
Once a swarm has found a suitable new hive they will leave together and move in. The natural location of a new hive would be a hollowed tree cavity, but if they can’t find one, they will make themselves home in a hole in your wall, your attic, or another similar spot. Removing an established colony from your house is called a ‘cut-out', which is expensive and is potentially structurally damaging to your house. Leaving a colony in your walls will attract mice and other animals drawn to their honeycomb that will ensue more damage.
To avoid needing a cut-out, I suggest installing a swarm trap. A swarm trap (Figure 5) is an attractive hive for a swarm and can easily be moved by a beekeeper to a loving farm or can be the start of a new hobby. This box of bees is valued at around $200 and is a blessing to a new beekeeper or an established beekeeping operation. If you are interested in installing a swarm trap at your home, please reach out for more information.
Figure 5. Swarm trap available to purchase from Mann Lake