THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 17, 1996 TAG: 9604170160
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
A swarm of honeybees, however frightening it may appear, is nothing but a bunch of exhausted bees taking a rest from the tiring job of house hunting.
So if you come across a moving brown mass of the little bees hanging from your tree or mail box, don't call an exterminator to get rid of them and don't try to spray them or remove them yourself. Call the Tidewater Beekeepers Association.
Like a good Realtor, the association will find the bees a new home.
During the spring swarming season, the beekeepers even operate a telephone hot line. In Virginia Beach, the number is 486-1573; and in Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Suffolk, call 488-7617.
Honeybees swarm in the spring because they have outgrown their old home, according to beekeeper Art Halstead of Chesapeake. The old queen splits off with some of the worker bees and goes in search of new digs. Think of a honeybee swarm not as mass of stinging machines, but as just a group of wing-weary critters searching for a residence.
When the average person comes upon a swarm, they see a mass of bees hanging from a tree limb or mail box or even on the ground. The bees are not picky about where they settle down to rest their wings.
Although it could be dangerous for an inexperienced person to try and deal with a swarm of honeybees, a swarm is generally easy for a beekeeper to handle. The bees are usually very calm, said Virginia Beach beekeeper C.E. Harris. They are not only exhausted but they also are glutted with honey on which they dined to gain strength before leaving their hive.
``They are gorged with honey,'' Harris explained. ``They can't even arch their abdomens down to sting, they are so full. They are like us after a Thanksgiving dinner - full and docile.
``They also don't have a home to defend,'' he went on, ``because they are in transit looking for a home.''
The average swarm weighs 3 to 6 pounds. While 2 1/2 pounds is considered a small swarm, a 5-to-6 pound mass is a ``prime swarm'' in beekeepers' parlance.
The largest swarm Harris has ever handled weighed 11 pounds. ``The queen got tired and settled on a clump of dirt,'' he said. ``They covered an area as big as a hood of a car and the swarm was about 3 inches thick.''
Beekeepers like to be called when the bees are swarming because it's a lot easier to ``harvest'' the bees then, before they decide to start a new colony, perhaps in one of your bird houses or even in your garage or between the walls of your house. After they have found a home, they want to defend it.
Whatever you do, don't eradicate the bees. These important little pollinators are declining in general due to a mite that infests their larvae. And this year, some also may have died as a result of severe winter.
Most of us don't even see honeybees in our yards much any more. The little yellow and black striped insects, about three-quarters of an inch long, are few and far between. This time of year, if you do see them, they'll probably be feeding on flowering fruit trees or foraging on low growing wildflowers, like dandelions.
They also can be found buzzing around dripping water spigots or moist dirt in low-lying areas. ``They have to have water this time of year to mix with the honey in the hive that got thick over the winter,'' Harris said.
``We don't see as many as we used to,'' Harris said.
So be sure to call the beekeepers if you see a swarm and the good landlords will give the critters a new lease on life.
P.S. Contrary to what the column on baby cottontail rabbits said, all bunnies caught by cats should be taken to a wildlife rehabilitator even if they look all right. Call Debbie Fesko of the Virginia Beach Wildlife Society at 463-5861.
A SPRING PLANT SALE will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at Norfolk Botanical Garden. Lectures and demonstrations also are part of the event. The Tidewater Daylily Society will be selling daylilies Saturday and Sunday.
SEINE FISHING IN THE OCEAN will be demonstrated by commercial fisherman Marshall Belanga at 2 p.m. Saturday at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Belanga is one of the last fishermen in Virginia Beach to haul a seine from the beach. Call 721-2412 for reservations.
LEARN HOW TO MANAGE YOUR LAWN with tips and techniques that are friendly to the environment from 9 a.m. to noon at Cypress Point Golf Course. The free program is sponsored by Virginia Beach and Norfolk Cooperative Extension Service as part of the Lake Smith/Lake Lawson Watershed Initiative. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: The honeybees ``are gorged with honey,'' beekeeper C.E. Harris,
above, explains. ``They can't even arch their abdomens down to
sting, they are so full. They are like us after a Thanksgiving
dinner - full and docile.''
Photos by MARY REID BARROW by CNB