'It looks scary, but they're harmless': Bees removed from Winnipeg street light

A swarm of bees stayed in a lamppost in Winnipeg's Sage Creek neighbourhood for nearly two weeks before it was removed on July 17, 2024. (Submitted by Ray Giguere)

A swarm of bees living in a lamppost in Winnipeg’s Sage Creek neighbourhood has found a new home for its hive.

After gathering in and around the streetlight for nearly two weeks, the bees were safely removed Wednesday by Manitoba Hydro crews and Ray Giguere – the proprietor of Giguere Honey Farms.

“I’ve never seen one on a lamppost,” Giguere told CTV News Saturday.

“My initial reaction was they’ll probably be gone in a day or so because, you know, they weren’t protected,” he said. However, after further inspection, Giguere realized the bees found a way to crawl inside the light fixture.

“I told the city these are just going to get worse over time,” Giguere recalled. “They’re inside the light, they’re going to build up honeycomb, the queen’s going to start laying eggs, the bees are going to bring in honey.

“By the looks of it, they’re not going away for whatever reason, I guess,” he said.

Since the street light was posted more than five metres high, heavier equipment was needed to access the swarm. Crews brought the lamp to the ground where Giguere was able to safely remove them.

“The surprising thing of it all was when I got it back, there was no honeycomb built up in there,” Giguere said. He believed it could have been because there was no queen in the swarm to lay any eggs, and so far, he hasn’t been able to find one from the bees he collected.

“It’s weird,” said Giguere. “It’s a weird place that they went there, it’s weird that they stayed that long, and it’s even weirder that there was no honeycomb built (after two weeks).”

He noted that bees typically like to build their hives on or inside trees, and have even been found in the ground before.

“We couldn’t figure out how they got in (the street light), because it’s sealed.”

While the location may be out of the ordinary, Giguere said it’s not uncommon to see the bees out and about, especially with all the rain southern Manitoba has received.

“The bees get kind of cooped up, pent up in the house, and they get agitated and they get overpopulated,” he said. “Whenever we’ve had a break in the rain … you cannot believe how busy they are working.

“They get a little bit stressed out and it’s a natural occurrence.”

Giguere also pointed out that despite how large a swarm may be, it isn’t dangerous.

“It looks scary, but they’re harmless,” he said. “All they’re doing is following the queen to wherever they’re going to land and they’re not going to bother anything.”

Now that the bees have been rehomed to an apiary, Giguere said he’ll try to introduce a new queen with eggs from another colony.