BOISE, Idaho — We're almost two months into spring now, and while many Idahoans are spending time out in the sun - and out in their gardens - one part of springtime that we're all used to has been missing.
Some people in our area have been asking: Where are all the bees?
The Treasure Valley is used to seeing bees around April. But there has been a delay in bee activity this year because of the longer, colder winter we've had - the rain has also been a factor. But flowers are blooming, and we should be seeing plenty of bees before long.
"We've had a lot of precipitation, a lot of rain over the past week or more. Honey bees typically won't leave their hive unless it's approximately 60 degrees and dry," Melinda Jean Stafford, board member of the Treasure Valley Beekepers Club said. "So that's delayed the bees being active on a lot of flowering plants and trees."
But bee activity will be buzzing soon, as temperatures stay warm and flowers bloom.
"That is going to be a recipe for seeing a lot of bees active, and flying, and gathering pollen and nectar from plants in your yard and in our area," Stafford said.
Stafford says that bee populations in the Treasure Valley have been relatively consistent.
"Even though you haven't seen as many bees flying around lately, I wouldn't necessarily correlate that to being a loss of bees," Stafford said. "We've just had a longer winter than what we're used to."
Bees buzzing also means that bees could be swarming soon too. Swarming is when a bee colony grows, and ultimately divides from one colony into two.
"The queen will leave the hive with about half of her bees and find a new home. But temporarily they'll find a holding spot like on a tree branch or the under the awning of the house," Stafford said. "Which can be very alarming to most people because they're not used to seeing thousands of bees gathered up in a tree in a front yard somewhere."
While they can look scary, swarms means that hives are health and strong. Which is important because of how crucial bees are for agricultural systems.
"Many of our healthiest foods that we love, such as strawberries, are dependent on animal pollinators," Kristin Gnojewski, community volunteer specialist for Boise Parks and Recreation said. "But they're also really important in terms of our ecosystem. So the seeds and berries that birds and other wildlife rely on they need to be pollinated."
Gnojewski says that Idaho has between 400 to 700 native bee species, ranging from tiny bees to larger, fuzzy bumblebees.
"They're very, very diverse, you'll see them on all different kinds of plants," Gnojewski said. "And most of them can't even sting you. Most of our native bees, they just live little solitary environments in a little tiny nest in the ground or in a stem somewhere."
The City of Boise has eight pollinator gardens that support pollinators - such as bees. There are ways you can support bees at home too.
"If you have even a small patio, things that you can do to help support bees include planting pollinator-friendly plants that haven't been treated with pesticides such as neonicotinoids, which can harm pollinators and bees," Gnojewski said. "You can leave pithy or hollow stems for some of our stem nesting bees. So when you're pruning your plants, if you just leave six or 12 inches of that stem stubble, that provides some habitat for bees. You can also just leave a little open space for those ground nesting bees."
If you see a swarm of bees, Stafford says you don't want to panic. Instead, you can go to idabees.org - the Treasure Valley Beekeepers Club website.
The website has a red "SWARM" button, which will take you to a swarm page where you can find a beekeeper in your zip code that will get the hive off your property and rehome the bees.
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