The Swarm 2

Posted on May 1, 2004 in Insects Neighborhood

The Bee Man came just before five. He’d cleared out seven hives before he came to ours. To get at our swarm, he drilled a hole in the buttress and sprayed a tranquilizing gas through it. Then he knocked a hole in the side and pulled out the pieces of honeycomb.

“Not much good,” he said. These bees had fatted themselves on random chaparral and decorative bushes including oleander, which is poisonous. The honey dripped like water onto the sidewalk. He dropped the pieces into a black plastic bag which he clamped shut.

When he was finished, he filled the chamber with insulation and sprayed the entrance with pesticide. Then he left a yellow card with his number in case he hadn’t done the job right. A few dozen bees swarmed around the entrance. As evening slipped over Chris’s condominium, they started dropping to the ground. Lynn and I went out to celebrate Cinco de Mayo at La Perlita. When we came back, we swept up the dead.

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• The world through a bee’s eye
• Bees (general information including an anatomy)
• Tales from the Hive (Nova)
• Honey Bees and Beekeeping
• Honeybee Biology
• Africanized bees in California