http://www.northjersey.com/news/060710_Bee_swarm_stops_traffic_in_Hackensack.htmlMonday, June 7, 2010
BY MARLENE NAANES (NOT Bee Leafe!)
The Record
STAFF WRITER
HACKENSACK — The intersection of Main and Anderson was the scene of a massive cloud of bees Sunday morning, forcing police to stop traffic until a bee keeper ushered the insects into a box, authorities said.
An officer on patrol and a few passersby noticed the swarm of thousands of bees at Main and Anderson streets about 8:30 a.m.
“Apparently it looked like a cloud, low to the ground,” said Hackensack Police Department Capt. Tomas Padilla.
Police closed the intersection and called animal control authorities who brought in Rochelle Park bee keeper Randy Zeberl who lured the bees into a box with a piece of old honey comb. Many of the bees were run over by cars and buses when they landed on the ground, and Zeberl estimates he captured between 8,000 and 10,000 in about 30 minutes.
He believes between 10,000 and 15,000 bees were swarming in the area, a phenomena that usually occurs earlier in spring, in late April and May. Bees swarm when the colony gets crowded and some of the bees leave with the old queen to find a new home.
“Usually it’s not in the middle of the street,” Zeberl said.
The queen cannot fly very long distances, so it is likely the bees came from somewhere nearby, possibly a building, a tree or Johnson Park. Sunday’s swarm was on the smaller side — bees can come in droves of 30,000 to 60,000.
Zeberl said he gets calls from all over the area, particularly in towns with old trees. Bees propagate via swarms.
A queen will leave a colony and about half of it will leave, following her pheromones. A new queen will hatch in the old colony while the new one is formed elsewhere with the old queen.
“This is a normal thing,” he said. “It’s something they do for millions of years…it’s the way of propagating the species.”
E-mail: naanes@northjersey.com
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