What’s the buzz?: Thousands of bees swarm city centre in search for home

A MASSIVE swarm of thousands of bees buzzed through Dublin city centre yesterday.

The bees both amazed and unnerved passers-by who stopped to stare as they clustered on a wall in Montague Street, near St Stephen’s Green.

But those who witnessed the event need not have worried about being stung – the bees had eaten lots of honey in preparation for their flight with their queen.

The swarm waited on the wall, ensuring their queen was well protected while scouts went off looking for a new home.

It was a welcome sign of summer because bees always choose a warm sunny light day with little or no wind to swarm.

Ben Myers and John Killian, members of County Dublin Beekeepers’ Association, made a “bee-line” for them with a cardboard box and a smoker.

“It is quite easy. You just get the queen to walk into the box and the rest will follow,” Mr Killian explained as he waved the smoker about to ensure the bees stayed calm.

When bees swarm they are actually dividing an existing colony in two, thus creating a new hive.

The swarm is always a planned event and can be caused by overcrowding, starvation or other internal hive problems. Overcrowding is usually the main reason.

Liam McGarry, secretary of the County Dublin Beekeepers’ Association, said bees that swarmed would have filled their stomachs with enough honey to keep going for up to 10 days.

Every time there is a honey bee swarm about 60% of the bees leave the existing hive and it generally only happens once a year.

“Beekeepers are always on the look out for queen cells developing in a hive because they know the bees are thinking of absconding and try to fool them into staying put,” said Mr McGarry.