Honey Bees Swarm

Gerry Bomford is a well known and distinguished Bee Keeper in the Prince George area.

Gerry was raised in a Horticulturist/Beekeeper environment as a young boy in Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island and moved to Prince George in 1991, where he purchased property in Salmon Valley, providing the opportunity to indulge and foster this lifetime interest.

Gerry is a member of the BC Honey Producers Association, and was the President of the Prince George Beekeeper's Association for 10 years.

Gerry was asked to provide comments on the recent Honey Bee Swam that occurred in the downtown core of Prince George.

To do so, Gerry provided substantial background information on the history of Beekeeping which dates back a couple thousand years.  Further, Gerry provided very interesting commentary about the life cycle of Honey Bees and the selection and growth of the "Queen Bee" and her drones.

Honey Bees are relatively placid insects, that are very busy doing what they are known for, the production of honey in their hives.  They are not normally aggressive when managed and not alarmed or disturbed.

Gerry has 50 colonies of bees within a few mile radius of Prince George, and estimates another 50 colonies in the area owned by other Beekeepers.

The situation of a "Bee Swam" is not uncommon and need not be a real concern to manage if handled by people that know what they are dealing with.  In fact, it could be a fairly lucrative situation to a Beekeeper.

The recent situation was not managed well as a result of the people involved being inexperienced and alarmed by the "Swam."  With out knowing what proper steps or actions to take, a large percentage of the Bees were destroyed, including the "Queen."  The surviving Bees ultimately left the area in search of other hives or opportunities.

Rotarian Lisa Redpath, also a Beekeeper, thanked Gerry for his very informative presentation with another donation to our Rotary Polio Plus Program.