Linda Stringer was trimming bushes Thursday morning when she noticed a visitor — well, 25,000 to 30,000 buzzing, yellow-and-black visitors.
A swarm of bees had settled on a limb up in a tree in her yard off Pickwick Road in south Marion County.
Stringer, who had experience because her daddy raised the honey-making insects when she was young, knew what needed to be done.
“We need to save them,” said Stringer, who added she wanted children to see the bees and learn their value to pollinating plants.
Marvin Holmes, a beekeeper for more than 30 years from Columbia, drove his truck into her backyard adjacent to a hay field Thursday afternoon and moved the swarm into a box. They’re destined for another beekeeper who wants them.
Holmes, who has 25 to 30 colonies himself, sprayed smoke to calm them down and get them away from his truck, where some had settled, and into the box. You could hear the buzz loudly as they settled down.
“Just move slowly” is Holmes’ main advice for staying unstung when walking among thousands of stinger-equipped creatures.
He said bees swarm every spring, but this year they seem to be especially active.
“They have swarmed their taters off this time,” Holmes quipped.
He’s taken calls about bees inside a house in Dexter and inside a chest of drawers on a porch not far from Stringer’s home.
The colony Thursday was docile compared to others he’s seen, which will come out and meet you at the truck – and not in a friendly way.
But they’re necessary for agriculture and the food supply.
“We couldn’t live without ‘em. People don’t realize,” Holmes said.
Pictured Above: Marvin Holmes carries a box full of bees from his truck Thursday afternoon outside a home on Pickwick Road. The longtime beekeeper picked them up after resident Linda Stringer discovered the colony in a tree. Bees, which are crucial for plant pollination, do this every spring as they form new homes, but they have been particularly active this year, according to Holmes. | Photo by Charlie Smith
