D.C.'s "Swarm Squad" rescues huge hives of bees
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Beekeeper Del Voss (right) with two crowd volunteers at Union Market. Photo: courtesy Del Voss
A huge honey bee swarm at Union Market captivated D.C. internet on Sunday as urban beekeeper Del Voss removed thousands of insects with (eek!) bare hands.
Why it matters: Voss is part of the DC Beekeepers Alliance's "Swarm Squad" task force, who rush to swarm scenes — rampant in spring — and safely collect the pollinators, which can run in the tens of thousands.
How it works: When someone reports a swarm to DCBA, the message is vetted to make sure it's not, say, a misidentified wasp nest. Details are then shared on a WhatsApp channel of 75-odd experienced beekeepers.
- The first to buzz back gets the bees—a big score for an apiary, given swarms typically involve tens of thousands of (free) bees.
What they're saying: "We're very competitive. We want to get those bees," Voss tells Axios.
The big picture: Contrary to popular belief, swarms aren't "angry" or prone to attack. They're healthy, docile — albeit temporarily homeless — bees. Queens lay thousands of eggs in winter, and by spring, hives get overcrowded. Bee populations will naturally split, guided by a queen to search for a new home.
- Temporary resting places, called bivouacs, allow the queen and her colony to regroup while others search for a permanent pad within a mile radius — ideally something hollow and protected, like a tree trunk.
- Trained beekeepers can also detect when hives are ready to split and control the process within their apiaries.
Zoom in: Voss says the Union Market swarm originated from a friend's hive on a nearby rooftop. Their bivouac: a "No Parking" sign.
Threat level: High. Voss says, "People were oblivious and walking right underneath [the swarm]. If someone bumped that sign, 20,000 bees would fall off."
- Still, it was easy to collect the calm bees. Voss dusted them with smoke — a soothing agent — and scooped them into a box. No humans were harmed.
Between the lines: Voss is a highly experienced beekeeper with 50 hives and millions of bees between his Lincoln Park home, Beltsville farm, and a public park in D.C. that's part of the city's Urban Beekeeping Program.
- He retrieved the bees with bare hands because gloves can harm and agitate them. Plus, he gets stung all the time. It's like "getting allergy shots," he says.
- Voss sells his D.C. honey — fragrant from a terroir of tree blossoms — at pop-up markets on Capitol Hill and with friends at Second Story Honey & Candles.
By the numbers: Over 500 bee hives are registered in D.C., though Voss guesses there are hundreds more.
The bottom line: "We do a lot of public education this time of year," says Voss, who used the Union Market swarm as an hours-long session for onlookers.
- "We want people in the community not to be afraid of honey bee swarms because they can be terrifying if you don't know what you're looking at."