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Lots of buzz in downtown Windsor as bees swarm bus shelter

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There was a hive of activity Wednesday at a downtown Windsor bus shelter that had been swarmed by bees.

About 4,000 honeybees were congregating inside the shelter on Wyandotte Street and Ouellette Avenue, next to Shoppers Drug Mart.

The swarm started forming Tuesday night.

Purdie Good Honey from LaSalle was there Wednesday morning to remove the pollinators.

Tim Purdie said this was the first time they dealt with a swarm in downtown Windsor, saying it was an exciting opportunity to come rescue the bees for the Essex County Beekeepers Association.

Bees are swarming the shelter on Wyandotte and Ouellette in Windsor, Ont., on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Bob Bellacicco/CTV News Windsor)“Usually bees are hanging off trees and whatnot in nature and they're on their way,” Purdie said. “They seem very healthy and anxious to get them back to the bee yard and get them checked out. Make sure they're healthy and put them in a bigger location where they can forage and prosper.”

Purdie and his daughter, Drew, spent the entire morning carefully removing the bees to eventually be relocated to their LaSalle property to make honey and wax.

“A full-size colony is between 10 and 20,000 bees,” Purdie said. “So this is early in the season. They'll grow into the fall period and they'll shrink down a little bit overwinter and then be off to the races again for spring.”

Purdie suspected the swarm stopped at the downtown bus shelter to rest since it’s protected from the elements. He said he thought the former colony may have been too crowded and too hot.

Bees are collected at a downtown bus shelter in Windsor, Ont., on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. (Chris Campbell / CTV Windsor)“A swarm leaves an existing facility that's either too small or under threat,” Purdie said. “And so they divide naturally. It's like procreation, and they've rested here on their way to find a permanent better home and we've just intercepted them.”

The beekeeper continued, “They would have left within a couple of days if everyone left them alone. They would have found another spot but the danger of that is that they might take up residence in someone's roof or inside their siding or something that's undesirable in this way we capture them, put them in a suitable home out in farmland in LaSalle.”

There were no stings from the downtown horde reported.

The apiarist noted most bees remain docile when in a swarm like this.

“Bees when they're in the swarm condition are full of honey. So it's like overeating,” Purdie explained. “You really are not motivated to go attack anybody when you're nice and full. You just want to go find a nice place to rest and nap.” 

- With files from CTV Windsor's Chris Campbell

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