Swarm season is an anxious time for beekeepers, perhaps more so this year because of the endless rains. I worried every time my e-mail buzzed with a note about a swarm ready to be collected — worried that a colony strong enough to split and send most of its workers and its old queen to pioneer new territory might be lost in the weather.
Capturing swarms and providing shelter for these nascent colonies seems especially important this year.
estimates that 38 percent of Colorado colonies managed by backyard and professional keepers did not survive the winter.
This matters. As much as 80 percent of the global food supply — from Western Slope tree fruits to grain-fed beef cattle — depends on pollinators. If it’s on your plate, a bee of some type probably helped get it there.
My own backyard colony survived, so honeybee swarms I’ve captured or found have been passed on to others. One went to a new hive in my mom’s lovely Longmont rose garden. She wanted it simply to watch the bees. I wanted her to have it because I hope her friend Miles, who lost most of his hives during the 2013 flood, will count it as his own as he rebuilds his business.
Another went to a Park Hill yard where Skip set up a hive because he was so pained by the reports of winter losses.
A third went to Bill, who lost his bees after he launched homegrown-honey-sweetened café latte as its signature menu item.
More swarms may come. And if they do, I hope there are other gardeners open to joining my bee-friendly colony of friends and family.
Dana Coffield: dcoffield@denverpost.com, 303-954-1954 or twitter.com/danacoffield
