BY MATT WICKENHEISER

Staff Writer

Got bees?

If so, they may be the ones missing from Wolfe's Neck Farm in Freeport.

According to Wolfe's Neck, its colony of bees swarmed during Wednesday's stormy weather and most left, looking for a new home. Police have been notified.

Because the bees probably won't survive in the wild, the farm hopes that someone nearby (within a five- or six-mile radius) will notice them and that the colony can be collected.

Beekeeper Marcy Bernstein estimated that the colony contained from 60,000 to 80,000 European honeybees, and that 15,000 to 20,000 might be left at the hive. The bees aren't dangerous, Bernstein stressed, and without a hive or honey to protect are fairly docile.

Bernstein said swarming is a natural occurrence for bees.

"When their colony is overloaded and stressed for one reason or another, they move," she said. "In actuality, this is happening all the time. We just don't know about it."

Normally, beekeepers aren't even aware that their bees have swarmed until they discover the colony is gone. But people at the education-centered Wolfe's Neck Farm alerted Bernstein and Education Coordinator M.D. Mitchell that the bees were acting strangely.

Mitchell said the swarm looked like a clump of bees roughly the size of a basketball that was hanging around a bush. When bees decide to swarm, they surround the queen and keep her from eating for about five days so she drops weight and is able to fly, Bernstein said.

Then they leave the hive, surrounding the queen to protect her. While the swarm waits, scout bees go out to look for a new home --a hollow tree, an old beehive, the eaves of a house or someplace similar.

Mitchell said he has alerted police in Brunswick and Freeport, asking them to contact the farm if complaints come in about heavy bee activity. Anyone spotting a bunch of bees hanging around can e-mail the farm at general@wolfesneckfarm.org.

Bernstein said she'll check on the thousands of bees left in the hive at Wolfe's Neck in about 15 days. By then, they might have another queen. If not, she'll buy a new queen and put it in the hive.

Bernstein and Mitchell tried to "hive" the bees as they swarmed -- basically by putting them into an empty hive box -- but the bees left.

Wolfe's Neck may not be a great site for bees. Bees travel within a three-mile radius, pollinating flowers. Wolfe's Neck is on the water, so a lot of that range is useless to the insects.

There are climate issues as well, Bernstein said, including fog and cold.

Mitchell said there are still enough bees in the hive for a beekeeping class being offered at the farm from 10 a.m. until noon on July 5.

Staff Writer Matt Wickenheiser can be contacted at 791-6316 or at:

mwickenheiser@pressherald.com