Don’t ‘bee’ wary of pollinating powerhouses

By Cory Smtith | news@campcountynow.com

We’ve all been there: you’re outside working in the yard, playing with your kids, swimming in the pool…the scenarios are endless…and then, you see it coming toward you. 
The buzzing gets louder and louder and the flying creature starts to take shape as it gets closer to you. Your heart skips a beat as you realize it’s a honeybee and it must be coming to sting you to kingdom-come. 
Not so fast: these winged insects are virtually harmless and play a very important role in keeping our environment living and thriving.
These pollinators tend to give people a scare, especially when they congregate together to form a swarm. 
Frankie Buck King, who has taken on a role as a beekeeper said bees tend to swarm when they become overcrowded.
“They become overcrowded and it’s Mother Nature’s way of perpetuating the species. The queen gets unhappy when it gets overcrowded so she will leave and take about a third of the population with her. She’ll find a spot, usually within two or three hundred yards of the original hive, and the rest of the bees congregate around her,” said Buck. “The other bees know this is going to happen, so before they leave, they gorge themselves on honey so they’ll have some to sustain themselves.”
Although the swarms look intimidating, King said in a swarm state, honeybees actually aren’t aggressive because they have nothing to protect.
“When they swarm, and they’re wadded up: and it could be on a fence post, a barbed-wire fence, a doorknob, a mirror on a car, a clothesline…just anything really…they’re not aggressive because there’s no larvae or brood or food to protect. They’re pretty docile because they’re gorged with honey. Just to prove to people how docile they are, I’ve walked up to a swarm of bees, stuck my hand in and pulled it out, and my hand is covered in bees and I can shake them off fine.”
Now, that’s not to say they still won’t sting, but it is well-known that the reason honeybees sting is because something has made them agitated, like trying to swat them with your hand.
“One might get on you and you might do like that (swipe your hand across to shoo-off the bee) and if you mash em’ they’re going to sting you.”
King removed a bee swarm outside the Camp County Courthouse a few weeks ago using a special vacuum that doesn’t harm the bees as they are sucked into a beekeeper’s box. The vacuum regulates the amount of air used to suck the bees into the box, whereas, if a regular vacuum was used, it would mostly likely kill or injure the bees. 
“You vacuum up everything you see and then you take the box and set it on top of the beehive with the top of the hive removed. It has a sliding door in the bottom and you just slide that door out and the bees go into the hive. You put the top of the hive back on and then you’re in business.”
Honeybees are vital to the world’s ecosystem as they transport pollen across every nook and cranny across the planet. The honeybee population is in danger according to King, which poses a threat to our environment.
“They’re under threat from natural predators like mites and beetles and wax moths; insecticides have also taken a toll on them and so has loss of habitat: people don’t plant trees for bees, they pour concrete. It doesn’t matter where you live, you can do a part to help by planting some wildflowers. It’s estimated that 70 to 80 percent of our food supply is dependent on honeybees pollinating the crop.”
Many may not know just how dependent a lot of food producers are on honeybees.
“Almond growers pay beekeepers $200 a hive to set their hives in their orchards for six weeks. Pears, apples, particularly the fruit…and a lot of the grain crops depend on honeybees,” said King. 
King relocates the hives to his home, gives them to other beekeepers or gardeners who are interested in having a hive or in another safe area. 
“Most importantly, people need to know that swarms aren’t dangerous, just leave them alone and they’ll be gone and if you’re intimidated by them, call someone but don’t kill them.”
According to King, the bee business is picking up and he has a long waiting list of people wanting hives and he is taking that as a positive sign to keep the honeybee population strong and healthy. 
So, the next time you see a honeybee or a group of honeybees, let them go on their merry way and pollinate the planet so you can enjoy that next bite of fruit.