Petaluma’s bee swarming season has come to a close, but some people are sad to see it go.

These folks make up the Sonoma County Beekeepers’ Association’s “Swarm List,” a hotline of avid local beekeepers who jump into action when called upon by residents with bee problems. There are several Petalumans on the list, including “Bee Lady” Ettamarie Peterson of Peterson’s Farm, Angelo Ibleto of Angelo’s Meats, and Richard Wallenstein of the Lavender Bee Farm, each of whom can get as many as a dozen calls each season.

The major swarming months are March and April, when bee colonies can outgrow their hives and go real estate shopping. That’s when the swarm-catching beekeeper comes in to save the day.

But these beekeepers don’t just catch swarms. After capturing the bees, they take them back home and put them to work – making honey and pollinating flowers.

A year ago, Petaluma native May Tomasetti found a swarm in her pear tree. She called Peterson, who passed the job on to novice beekeeper Sean Straw, a man looking for bees to start his own hive.

“I told him, ‘Now’s your chance. Go get your swarm,’” Peterson said.

In just a few hours, Tomasetti’s bee problem was solved. Then in October, she got a little present on her doorstep – a jar of honey from Straw labeled “May’s Bees.”

“It was great,” said Tomasetti. “I felt like a benefactress to bees.”

The value of bees is easily overlooked, but their pollination efforts play an essential role in dramatically increasing crop yield, and by simply making pretty flowers more so. Peterson uses them for better pumpkin production. “For each acre of pumpkins,” she said, “you need a