Bee Swarming Season

March 12, 2021 - For this week’s post for What’s the Buzz? I wanted to share some news about our lovely beehive.

The bees have survived the winter (hurray!) and if you come to the Library you might see them buzzing around the hive on the Southeast corner of the Library’s lawn. Since spring is quickly approaching, I wanted to alert patrons that the bees will be swarming soon!

What’s bee swarming, you might ask? Great question! Swarming is a natural reproduction process where a colony of bees splits into two or more distinct colonies.  A group of bees will leave the hive with a queen bee and try to find a new home nearby.

That means if you are walking by the Library you might see a large group of bees in the vicinity. There could be lots of bees flying around together. This is a bee swarm, and the swarm is  trying to find a good place to make their new home.

If you do see a bee swarm when you visit the Library, simply let a Library staff member know, or call the hive’s keeper Susan Knilans (360-833-3735).

Susan will make sure the swarm finds a good home! And don’t worry, the bees are not dangerous. 

Thank you so much for your help in looking after the Library bees!  Also, if you want to learn more about the Library beehive and beekeeping, check out our resource page on the Library’s website.

Elliot Stapleton
Library Associate
March 12th, 2021