• Art Jahnke

    Senior Contributing Editor

    Art Janke

    Art Jahnke began his career at the Real Paper, a Boston area alternative weekly. He has worked as a writer and editor at Boston Magazine, web editorial director at CXO Media, and executive editor in Marketing & Communications at Boston University, where his work was honored with many awards. Profile

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There are 18 comments on Honeybees Crash Commencement

    1. no, Bill was adamant that the bees not be harmed in any way and threatened anyone who would kill them! (we were seated nearby and got to see the whole thing unfold!)

  1. Excellent way to handle the situation! What a contrast to our experience at my alma mater, UC Davis. A swarm of bees “visited” our daughter’s high school graduation ceremony in 2006 and the university campus fire department responded by closing down ALL the bleacher seating on that side of the field which happen to be the shady side. As is usual in California, it was 100oF June day. All attendues were directed to sit in the direct sun; the bees got the best seats in the house all to themselves! I wish we’d had a “Bill Murray” to save the day!

  2. Well done Bill! As a fellow beekeeper who attended this commencement (though somehow missed this exciting Bee-U action), it was refreshing to see how well this was handled. So many times the exterminator is called in and the bees are killed. Best of luck to the bee club on campus! Great way to show the public firsthand how swarms are actually very docile and manageable when handled calmly and without panic.

  3. Nice catch!
    Honeybee swarms don’t follow their queen to a new home. The queen is actually following the scout bees who have already scouted, or are out scouting while the bees are clustered on the chair. The scouts return and when they’ve found a suitable home and they convey the location to the cluster and they go.

    1. … How does that change anything? The swarm follows the queen who follows a couple scouts. The swarm still follows the scouts.

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