A community in Lake Waccamaw woke up to the buzzing of tiny winged heroes on Tuesday morning, and a local beekeeper swooped in to save the displaced hive. Russell Tyler of Waccamaw Apiaries was called to Oak Road in the Wooded Acres neighborhood to gather the little ladies and give them a new place to call home.
Spring is a prime time for bees to swarm. Hives tend to move to a new area when resources in their environment become scarce, or a hive becomes too large.
This is the second year in a row the beekeeper has been called to the same area to rescue honeybees.
His process is gentle, careful, but efficient in gathering the insects, and the job he does is important because pollinators play a vital role that goes hand in hand in the existence of human beings.
Honeybees and other pollinators are essential to maintaining most ecosystems. Somewhere between 75 and 95 percent of all flowering plants on the earth need help with pollination. Pollinators such as bees, and butterflies provide services to over 180,000 different plant species and more than 1,200 crops.
That means that one out of every three bites of food you eat is there because of the work they do.
According to Tyler, a single bee only lives about 40 days, but they visit up to 2,000 flowers per day, aiding in the pollination process.
Tyler is passionate about the work that he does, and he often speaks and educates others about the importance of pollinators. At a recent three-day event at Jones Lake State Park, he and others with the Waccamaw Apiaries crew spent the time reaching out to over 500 fifth graders about their favorite buzzy ladies.
If you would like to learn more about Waccamaw Apiaries, you can visit their Facebook page by scanning the QR code below. To report a swarm of bees in your neighborhood, you can call them at 910.640.5114.
