CARTERVILLE (WSIL) -- A beekeeper was called into the City of Carterville Water Department on Division street Saturday after a swarm of bees began to form.
City volunteers putting more than two dozen potted plants in downtown noticed the bee infestation on the exterior of the building and called it in.
"I'm grateful that it happened during off hours. Our volunteers noticed them very quickly and made notification," Mayor Brad Robinson said.
Robinson said it was good timing because they had just called a beekeeper for a swarm that showed up down the street on someone's car earlier in the week.
"The one that happened a few days before on Illinois Avenue was in the fender of a car. It was someone who had been in Carbondale that morning. The timing worked out perfectly.. came out to leave just as the bees were removed," Robinson said. "The bees were looking for a new place to make some honey."
Robinson said the city clerk was one of the volunteers so she quickly made the call again.
"He came in a corraled them up," Robinson said.
University of Illinois Extension and USDA Farm Service Agency offices often have lists of local beekeepers for public information.
John Church from the University of Illinois Extension said swarms happen in the spring and early summer. Honey bees tend to swarm in large groups and can look threatening to homeowners, but in reality, the beneficial bees are just searching for a new home.
