It’s no secret, California is in a drought. Some on twitter are calling it the #superdrought. News articles are proclaiming it to be the worst drought to hit California in over 1200 years. Governor Brown has already declared an official “Drought State of Emergency”.

Make no mistake about it. This drought is taking a toll here in San Diego. The past four years have seen a trend toward hotter then average temperatures, with lower than average rainfall. About a month ago the dry spell was looking like it was never going to end. Then came a set of unexpected late spring storms in May, which has brought with it a sense of relief.

The recent rainfall has made history. This May is going down as one of the wettest on record. Although experts are saying these late spring storms will not help with the overall drought, we can’t help but feel grateful for getting some relief.

So what does all this wet weather mean for the bee population here in San Diego? How will it affect the native bee population?

To quote Martha Stewart, “It’s a good thing!”

Any rain we get (even if it doesn’t absolve the drought) helps the bees. It’s pretty much common knowledge that more rain means more water for the bees. It also means more flowers to pollinate. But here are 3 other ways the recent storms may help the native bee population here in San Diego:

1. More Swarms Simply put, the number of swarms increase with the availability of water. We can expect to see a higher number of swarms produced, if the weather starts to cool down and the rainfall totals continue to increase.

2. Less invasion of pools, hummingbird feeders, and birdbaths. Although there will never be a year where bees don’t forage for water in pools, bird baths, and bird feeders, there should be a reduction in the number of incidences where swarms take over these spots.

3. Larger Swarms. The number of bees in a swarm can vary. Traditionally we see larger swarms toward the late spring and early summer, after the rainy season. The two spring storms will almost certainly cause the size of bee swarms to increase.

Wanna see a huge swarm that was humanely removed from a potting table? Check out the clip below. The swarm was massive.