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Beekeeper Removes Swarm From Behind KLCC

Rachael McDonald

Honeybees swarmed Wednesday morning behind the KLCC studios in downtown Eugene. They may have come from wild hives on the roof of the nearby Rogue Brewery. When bees swarm, there's a list of people who can come and take them away.

 
Brent Hefley is on the Lane County Bee Keepers Association Swarm list. He got a call from the Rogue and came out to the parking lot behind KLCC. He brought a wooden box.

The bees clustered on a trellis over a fence behind the Starlight Lounge. Hefley stood on a ladder and, using gloved hands, gently scooped most of the bees into the open box. He says if he can get the queen, the rest of the bees will join her.

Credit Rachael McDonald
Brent Hefley scoops bees into a box, hoping to lure them away from the trellis.

Hefley says it's hard to know exactly why bees swarm.

Hefley: "It can be a number of reasons. They do it naturally in the wild and it’s a way that colonies divide and procreate as a colony when they get too large for the space that they have. In captivity it could be because their hives got too hot, got too wet, or too cold."

Hefley planned to take the bees home and put them in one of his empty hives. He hopes they'll be happy there.

 

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s host for All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. She also is the editor of the KLCC Extra, the daily digital newspaper. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000.
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