Swarming Season: Be Ready To See More Bees
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) -- Springtime is typically when bee hives reproduce and expand -- and we are seeing a spike in swarming all around the metro area. If a swarm makes its home on your property, it's important to call the experts. There's a new hotline you can call to have the bees removed safely -- and, in some cases, for free.
Gregg McMahan owns Rocky Mountain Bee Removal. He's been taking calls to the swarm hotline and CBS4 was with him on Tuesday morning as he worked to remove a swarm from a house in Aurora.
"We know there's 40,000 to 60,000 bees in there right now. And there's gonna be all sorts of babies and honey and, you know, fun things," McMahan said.
The homeowner, Harmony Wright, said the bees arrived a couple weeks ago.
"I had the windows open and I saw like something like a shadow. Looked like a whole bunch of flies or something. So then I open my window and there's HUNDREDS of bees!" Wright told CBS4 reporter Mekialaya White.
"When it cools off, you can't even see the side of the house there's so many. And then all of a sudden they'll be gone into the hive, so it's kinda creepy."
McMahan began vacuuming up the bees Tuesday morning.
"Woo... look at this they're beautiful," he said.
McMahan planned to relocate the bees to the Standley Lake Regional Park and Wildlife Refuge in Westminster. But as he continued to work, the beautiful bees got defensive.
"The more that I get up here and mess around, the more they want to just take care of business and sting me every chance they get," McMahan explained. "They're stinging me right through my bee suit."
He decided to put the extraction on hold for the day.
May and June are the busiest months for bees, but they swarm until the end of the summer, according to the website for the Colorado Beekeepers Association.
"If you are lucky enough to witness one of nature's most fascinating migrations, a swarm, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO KILL THEM! Do not spray them with insecticide or water! These bees are 'survivor bees' and are crucial to our environmental health," the website states.
If there is a swarm of bees in an outside location on your property, call the hotline at 1-844-SPY-BEES and a volunteer beekeeper will be dispatched to collect the bees and transfer them to a new home, for free, and generally within an hour or two.
If a swarm has to be removed from a structure like a home, that is called an extraction, and the CBA recommends calling a professional -- and that will cost you.
