Honeybees are appreciated for pollinating fruit trees and flowers, but most people are anxious when bees show up unexpectedly and en masse.

Swarms of bees, which have survived the winter, are buzzing the Portland area, following their queen to find a new spot to live as other bees stay in the hive with a new queen.

Cheryl Wright, president of the Portland Urban Beekeepers, says her nonprofit organization is receiving lots of emails now about swarm sightings in the area and she predicts 2020 is going to be an active swarm season, lasting into July.

“We don’t normally see swarms in March, but this year we’ve had two, and even this early in April we’ve seen more than 10,” she says.

First, she reminds people not to panic. And then she asks them to be protective. After all, without honeybees, there wouldn’t be apples, almonds, blueberries, cucumbers or watermelons.

Up to a third of food humans consume relies on insect pollination, usually honey or native bees, according to the Honeybee Conservancy. Beneficial bees also collect pollen and nectar for the hive.

Urban and suburban gardeners notice their fruit trees and vegetable gardens produce more once a beekeeper brings hives into the neighborhood.

In exchange for honey, neighbors usually agree to avoid using toxic herbicides, pesticides and other bee poisons, especially on flowers, says Wright.

Honeybees are also dying from loss of habitat and harmful pests, which includes the parasitic Varroa destructor mite, and the deadly viruses the mites transmit to the bees.

“This is why every honeybee matters and if we can re-home the honeybee swarms, we can ensure that our beneficial pollinators remain in our environment to do what they do best, pollinate,” says Wright, whose group provides information about the science and art of beekeeping.

Bees can buzz their way into the most unexpected places. In 2013, about 2,500 honeybees clung to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in downtown Portland. In 2019, more than 5,000 bees found a temporary home, clumped around a tree branch, at the Bridgeport Village shopping mall in Tigard.

Both times, the bees were collected by a beekeeper and brought to a hive to thrive.

Beekeepers capturing swarms is considered an essential activity of managing livestock and is approved during physical distancing measures enacted to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

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Here’s what to do if you see a swarm in the yard or another place on the property where honeybees temporarily roost while trying to find a new place to live.

Bee invasion do’s and don’ts

If you see a swarm of honeybees, you can do nothing. The bees will eventually find a home somewhere, but it might be in a structure around or in the home where the bees would not be welcomed.

If you know someone who keeps bees in your neighborhood, contact them because more than likely this swarm came from one of their hives. Honeybees are expensive livestock with current prices ranging from $135 to $250 for a new colony, says Wright.

"There are up to 40% to 60% losses over the winter for beekeepers in the Portland area, so if bees survive the winter to swarm, we really want them back,” she says.

If you don’t know a beekeeper, go to portlandurbanbeekeepers.org and you’ll see descriptions of different types of flying insects and a link to portlandurbanbeekeepers.org/swarmreport/report.php to report the swarm.

Calling pest control won’t help because honeybees are considered beneficial pollinators and pest experts will not kill them.

Contact a local beekeeper or the Portland Urban Beekeepers swarm notification site immediately since bees grow defensive and irritable, and are more likely to sting, about 24 hours after they left their food resource behind in the mother hive.

While waiting for help, you can use a clean spray bottle to mist the swarm with an equal mix of water and granulated white sugar. This simple syrup feeds bees and keeps them busy cleaning themselves rather than defending the hive.

“It is very important that the spray bottle be clean enough for a person to drink from, that is, it has not ever held pesticide, herbicide or other [bee] poison,” says Wright, who adds that store-bought honey from commercial beekeepers should not be fed to bees since it is likely contaminated with spores that can cause disease in honeybees but not humans.

If you are stung, it’s normal for bee sting sites to turn red and get swollen. “That is not an allergic reaction,” says Wright. “A true bee sting allergy usually involves extensive swelling, difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness or facial swelling.”

Bee stings are traditionally treated with ice or cold compresses to help reduce pain and swelling. Read more about home remedies for bee stings.

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--Edited by Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072

jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman

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