Page 18 - FWG 9 October 2021

sPriNg marks the

start of the hoNey bee

swarmiNg seasoN important to keep a safe distance from a
swarming colony and particularly from
an established honey bee nest. However,
during swarming, the honey bees are
B y Na t a sha L y o N from L y o N r a W a r tis a N h o N ey at their most vulnerable without the
protection of their established home. En
route to their new home, they will often
warming occurs when a large group FINDING A NEW HOME do ‘pit stops’ by settling on nearby tree
of honey bees leaves an established By understanding how and why bees swarm, branches or objects for a few hours as the
colony and flies off to form another our community can play an important queen bee cannot fly for long distances.
Scolony, essentially creating two role in their protection and the safety of It is at this time that we can often spot a
colonies from one. In doing so they ‘give humans and animals. These little creatures cluster of bees huddling together around
birth’ to a new colony. can fly up to a 5km radius from their colony a tree branch or any other ‘pit stop’ object.
– sometimes even further – in search of
Being the oldest security residential estate pollen, nectar or a new home. It’s the scout THE SWARMING INSTINCT
in South Africa, Fourways Gardens is bees that set off in search of a new home. There are many factors which trigger the
home to a wide variety of birds, butterflies How amazing is this? They instinctively swarming instinct. As temperatures begin
and honey bees. With our diverse and know the size required for the new colony. to warm up, the inflow of nectar and pollen
established gardens, there is an abundance During ‘inspection’ of a potential site, they triggers the queen to lay more eggs and
of food sources, and our estate has always fly around gathering information about therefore a colony can rapidly outgrow
had a healthy honey bee population. their surroundings, including potential its occupied space which may prompt
water and food sources. On their return, swarming. It could also be that the queen,
Sadly, a large proportion of the nearly the scout bees perform an intricate ‘waggle who lives between four and seven years,
22 000 bee species in the world is in sharp dance’ which communicates the location of is aging, and the worker bees respond by
decline. South Africa is home to nearly a their new home with surprising accuracy. raising a new queen. It is never a good
third of the estimated 2 800 bee species idea to have two queens in one household
found in Sub-Saharan Africa. The single If you have witnessed honey bees (nudge-nudge, wink-wink!). And so, the
most important action we can take to help swarming, you will know that it is both old queen prepares to swarm off with
our bees is to plant a pollinator-friendly fascinating and scary to see thousands some of the worker bees to establish a
garden, say NO to harmful pesticides, and of bees flying by in a buzzing cloud. One new colony. They even pack ‘lunch’ by
only prune trees, shrubs and herb gardens can often hear the bees before spotting filling their separate honey tummies with
after flowering. the swarm. As with any wild animal, it is honey to sustain them on their journey.

Fourways Gardens • 16 • October 2021