The Buzz Heard ’Round the Junior High

A cacophony of buzzing fills the Junior High yard, as hundreds, if not thousands, of bees swarm around the back fence. They started to appear one Tuesday evening in March. “Around 4:30 p.m. I noticed the bees gathering around the pole on the back fence, and by the time I left around 7:30 p.m. the swarm had only grown,” recalls Junior High principal Jennifer Cox. By the time she arrived at the Junior High the next morning, the swarm had doubled in size.

Jennifer jumped into action, devising a plan to protect students and save the bees. In collaboration with director of facilities Emma Morahan, Jennifer called two local bee rescues. Unfortunately, both rescues were unavailable to help that morning. As Emma and Jennifer considered options, Emma remembered that someone in the High School kept bees, which led them to High School science teacher Magnus Edlund. Magnus keeps a hive at his own home and helps care for the two hives at Paideia’s farm. He has also previously led beekeeping workshops at Paideia Farm and taught students about bees during Earth Day. “When I called Magnus, he said he had his equipment in his car and could be over in 30 minutes,” Jennifer recounts.

For their safety, Junior High students were not allowed to go out into the yard during their breaks and lunch. Instead, students gathered against the Junior High Commons’ windows to watch the buzzing and bustling bees. Magnus arrived on the scene, ready for action with a beekeeping hat and jacket. He had previous experience with moving colonies, knowing how to locate the queen bee. When you move the queen the swarm will follow. Magnus suspected that the queen may have been inside of the fence pole. While he successfully scooped (yes, scooped with his gloved hands) several hundred bees into a box for transport, he recognized this was a bigger job that would require a bee vacuum, a suction system that traps bees for safe relocation. 

Thankfully, with the help of the bee vacuum, Magnus was able to collect a majority of the swarm. He loaded up his car and drove the bees to their new home on Pi Farm. After their successful transfer to the hive, the bees accepted a new queen bee and are adapting to a quieter life among the rows of veggies and spring blooms of the farm.