Most people would run in the direction opposite a swarm of bees.
Not Kate Marks.
So when Marks, a Howe Avenue jewelry store owner/amateur bee-keeper, heard there was a swarm buzzing around the old Lafayette School on Grove Street in Shelton, she headed right over.
A clump of several thousand honeybees were squatting in a tree in front of the building — which now houses Valley United Way and Center Stage Theatre.
The swarming bees made getting into the building a test of courage.
“I’ve never seen a swarm like that in my life,” said Jack Walsh, president of the Valley United Way.
City workers were going to spray the swarm Thursday, but Pat Tarasovic, director of the Valley United Way’s Volunteer Action Center, remembered a presentation Marks had given to the local Rotary Club on bee-keeping and called her over.
By the time Marks arrived Thursday with her equipment, the bees had disappeared. But they were back in a big way Friday.
The swarm had gathered again on a wall near the rear entrance of the building.
It looked like a blanket of bees hanging on the wall, Walsh said.
Another clump made a section of brick wall near the front entrance home.
Marks and her husband, Chris, who keep three hives at their Shelton home, corralled those bees into a box, with the help of some sugar water sprayed on the bees to calm them.
They suspected the bees swarming on the corner of the building’s second story had found a place to make a new hive.
“They’re looking for a home,” Kate Marks said.
The place most of the bees had gathered Friday afternoon would afford a nice spot, between the building’s eaves and the brick wall, which are “perfect” to make honeycombs, she said.
When that happens, Marks said, the queen bee will establish herself at the site of the new hive, and drones will “dance” outside to attract more bees.
“In the swarm, there’s always a queen in the center someplace,” Marks said. “They’re protecting the queen until they find a new home.”
Swarms Common
Bee swarms are common this time of year, according to Kirby Stafford, the state’s entomologist and the vice director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.
Swarms happen when a group of bees is looking for a new hive — typically after a new queen bee takes over an existing hive.
“They are actually not aggressive,” Stafford said. “They don’t have a home to protect. They’re searching for a new one.”
Plus, the bees filled up on honey before leaving the old hive, which makes it physically harder for them to sting.
So what should you do if you see the swarm?
“Just step back and watch them,” Stafford said. “If nothing is done they will disperse as the honey colony figures out where to go.”
Or, like the Valley United Way did, call in a bee keeper.
Free Bees
The swarms can be caught and used to produce honey, so bee keepers often love collecting them.
It’s free bees.
If you don’t know any bee keepers, call the Insect Inquiry Office of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station at (203)-974‑8600.
The office keeps a list of bee keepers willing to help remove swarms. The state does not currently have a bee keeper.
Bee Stats
- Connecticut has 955 registered bee keepers, including hobbyists
- Those bee keepers have registered 5,443 bee colonies
- A colony of bees consists of 20,000 – 60,000 honeybees and one queen. Worker honey bees are female, live for about 6 weeks and do all the work.
- There typically aren’t many wild bee hives, due to tree mites that attack honeybees.
- Wasps will not swarm, as honey bees do.
- Call (203) 974‑8600 if you need a list of bee keepers willing to get rid of a swarm.
With reporting from Jodie Mozdzer.