Swarm of bees rescued on Calgary Stampede midway
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The swarm was searching for a new home, which is how they ended up in the tree at the midway
Publishing date:
Jul 14, 2022 • 44 minutes ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation 
Beekeeper Jim Rogers poses for a photo at the Beekeepers’ booth at the Nutrien building on Stampede grounds on Thursday, July 14, 2022. Azin Ghaffari/Postmedia Article content
The Calgary Stampede midway was abuzz on Wednesday as beekeepers from a booth on the grounds jumped into action to wrangle a rogue swarm.
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Several thousand bees found their way to a tree in the middle of the midway, causing some concern for passersby. Members of the Calgary and District Beekeeping Association — who have a booth at the Agriculture Zone — heard about the swarm and grabbed a honey box and frames they had on hand to collect them.
Climbing a ladder to where the swarm had situated itself in the tree, Jim Rogers, a longtime member of the beekeeping group, and others from the association got to work.
“If you do a quick knock, you can dislodge the queen into a bucket and then you pour that into the honey box. As long as you get the queen, they all follow,” Rogers said Thursday.
“We didn’t get the queen in the bucket this time but we had the honey box there, which acted like a bait hive. The bees could smell the wax and the honey, and in about an hour or two they had all moved in.”
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Rogers said before the swarm was identified as bees, people with the Stampede had brought over some cans of Raid or a similar bug spray, along with the ladder and buckets.
“I gave that bug spray back to him right away,” said Rogers.
Honeybees naturally split and divide to create more colonies, said Rogers. This swarm was searching for a new home, which is how they ended up in the tree at the midway.
“Generally, the swarms are pretty calm and docile because they’re full of honey — and they’re young bees because, by the time they’ve built up some wax and the queen can lay eggs, it takes three weeks before new bees emerge,” said Rogers.
The beekeeping crew did, however, get stung as they scooped the bees and worked to get them into the box. Rogers said it was likely the noise and vibration of the midway caused the bees to react, and he’s surprised more people didn’t get stung nearby.
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When it was full of bees and the queen, the box was taken to another beekeeper to be relocated.
Beekeepers with a booth at the Calgary Stampede quickly responded to rescue a swarm of bees that had found their way to a tree in the middle of the midway on July 13, 2022. Brangwyn Jones
Calgarian Brangwyn Jones was wandering the midway with a friend when he came across the beekeepers. He said he watches beekeeping videos on TikTok, so he enjoyed seeing their work up close.
“They had just put the box down and there were a few bees there but lots of them in the air, and after talking with them and then grabbing a lemonade and coming back, they had almost all gone into the hive,” said Jones.
“It was fun to have that first-hand experience where he was explaining to me what was happening . . . It was very educational.”
This was the second swarm the local beekeeping association collected at Stampede Park in the past few weeks. Three weeks ago, Rogers said, they were called to collect a swarm near the south entrance.
Rogers said anyone can help pollinators — including those that aren’t honeybees — by researching and creating small habitats in their yards. But those looking to keep honeybees should follow the city guidelines and take a course to prevent harming their hive.
sbabych@postmedia.comTwitter: @BabychStephanie
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