It's that time again when new honey bee queens kick the old queens out and there is a swarm on the run. So what do you do if a swarm ends up in your yard? It is more important than ever that honey bees be protected and unless you want to become a bee keeper, here are a few tips that will help to keep you and your insect visitors safe – re-homed and not destroyed. We get a lot of calls about bees making nests in the soffits of houses when they are actually wasps and hornets - so you need to be able to identify a bee from a wasp or hornet. In Canada, we have in excess of 800 species of native bees, the most notable the honey bees and bumble bees. Honey bees and bumble bees are both thick set with no waists, hairy and have pollen basket or corbicula (plural corbiculae) on their legs. Wasps and hornets have narrow waists and smooth hairless bodies. My suggestion is that you don't try to take care of the bees yourself, Google beekeepers and get them to recover the hive and relocate it.
Go Green Pest Control owner Randy Bilesky is a long-time South Delta resident. Trained and certified, Bilesky has first-hand knowledge of the pest problems that local homeowners and business owners encounter.
