Beekeeper helps relocate Elgin Street bees to country apiary

The sidewalk outside 150 Elgin St. was swarming with more than just people at 5 p.m. Monday evening.

About 15,000 honey bees were buzzing around a small tree outside the office building, prompting passers-by to swat the air and give the area a wide berth as they passed.

"It was wild to watch them basically walk out into the middle of Elgin Street to avoid the swarm," said Stephen Beckta, who runs a restaurant in the adjacent building. 

Beckta alerted the building's landlord when he spotted the massive cloud of insects gathering below his office window. 

Determined to find the bees a good home, Beckta said they called a local beekeeper to relocate the bees to the country.

An employee from Shopify helped transfer the bees to a box so they could be transported, and beekeeper Marc Gravel arrived to drive them to an apiary in Carp.

Honey bee swarmings are common in May, June and July, Gravel said.

As the bees reproduce, half the population splits with the original queen and goes in search of a new home, he said, adding the rest of the hive is likely somewhere near by.

"I'm pretty surprised that a lot of people found it interesting," Gravel said. "I didn't see anybody who was afraid."

Building employees blocked off part of the sidewalk until the bees were moved. 

Several bees were still swarming the tree afterwards, but Beckta said he wasn't concerned about the stragglers. 

"We have a garden of our own on the seventh floor terrace," he said.

"Hopefully they will go and pollinate things nicely."