Page 18 - Blue Valley Issue 4 2020 print.pdf

LIFESTYLE

By Natasha Lyon

SPRING MARKS THE A swarming cluster huddle

together on a tree branch. In
START OF THE HONEY BEE the middle of the cluster you
can spot the blurry image of
SWARMING SEASON a scout bee doing a ‘waggle
dance’ on the back of her sisters
to communicate the location of a
new home or food source.
By Natasha Lyon

warming occurs when a large group population, we simply cannot sustain our
of honey bees leaves an established food resources without the crucial work of
Scolony and fly off to form another pollinators, of which honey bees are the most
colony, essentially creating two colonies from important.
one. In doing so they ‘give birth’ to a new
colony. FINDING A NEW HOME
These little creatures can fly up to a 5km
Blue Valley Golf and Country Estate boasts radius from their colony - sometimes even
wonderful open spaces with established further - in search of pollen, nectar or a new
private gardens. This botanical footprint home. It’s the scout bees that set off in search
continues to attract a rich diversity of birds, of a new home. How amazing is this? They
butterflies and indeed honey bees. These instinctively know the size required for the
little pollinators are fascinating and have new colony. During ‘inspection’ of a potential
been around for over 100 million years. site, they fly around gathering information
However, our honey bees are in sharp about their surroundings, including potential
decline throughout the world. You can help water and food sources. On their return,
our honey bees by saying NO to harmful the scout bees perform an intricate ‘waggle
pesticides. Instead, explore companion dance’ which communicates the location of
planting to manage garden pests. Prune their new home with surprising accuracy.
trees and shrubs after flowering and continue
to plant for bees. As the temperatures warms, If you have witnessed honey bees swarming,
our honey bees start to swarm and by you will know that it is both fascinating and
understanding how and why bees swarm, scary to see thousands of bees flying by in a
our community can play an important role buzzing cloud. One can often hear the bees
in their protection. With the world’s growing before spotting the swarm. As with any wild

16 • Issue 4 2020 • BLUE VALLEY NEWS