Honeybee swarming season begins in Nova Scotia

A honey bee keeper shares timely advice in case you encounter a bee swarm.

As honeybee swarming season begins in Nova Scotia, a local beekeeper gives tips on what to do if you see this phenomenon in the wild.

Swarming usually occurs in the spring and is a honeybee colony’s way of reproducing and expanding their colony. While a swarm can often contain tens of thousands of bees, Graham McGuire, a hobby beekeeper in Halifax, says they’re mostly docile if left alone.

“Honeybee swarms are usually anywhere from a maybe a cantaloupe size to over a basketball size, and it’s a solid mass of bees hanging all together and there would obviously be some in flight around it. So they do look a little different from a wasp or a hornet, and that sort of swarming, clumping behavior is very distinctive to honeybees.”

Honeybees can be identified through several features like their size - being smaller than wasps, hornets, and bumblebees - as well as having slightly more muted colours. Honeybees also lack any hair on their bodies.

Anyone who comes across a swarm is recommended by McGuire to contact the Nova Scotia Beekeepers Association as they maintain a list of swarms and can dispatch beekeepers to move them to a safe space if needed.

“If you don’t know what you’re doing with them obviously it’s best to call a professional, and the Nova Scotia Beekeeper’s association tries to work with hobby beekeepers all around the province to make sure the bees instead of being exterminated end up in a safe place.”

With files from CTV’s Jim Kvammen.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.