Bee Master to the Rescue: April and May Peak Swarm Time

Approximately 20,000 bees swarmed a bench
at a Raleigh shopping center.

By Richard Urich
Durham Co. Master Gardener

On April 6, 2015, I received a call concerning a honeybee swarm in front of Mobley Shoes on Creedmoor Rd in Raleigh, NC. 

Mr. Mobley said the bees were flying everywhere and were starting to congregate on a park bench just outside his store. By the time I collected my equipment and got to the store all the bees had settled on or under the park bench, approximately 20,000 of them. I was able to capture all but a few. They now live in a new hive in my back yard.

This is the time of year when honeybees have a tendency to swarm. April and May are the peak months. They will swarm for a few reasons, but primarily it is due to hive overcrowding. The captured swarm most likely came from a nearby beekeeper. When a hive swarms, they take the queen with them, but leave a third of the bees and a soon-to-hatch queen cell so the remaining hive can
survive.

Beekeeper Richard Urich captures bees
 for his backyard hive.