IT’S EVER SO SWARM OUTSIDE

THE recent warmer weather has triggered the swarming of honey bees. Basically, when the hive gets too crowded, the bees “make” a new queen and half the occupants leave with her to set up a new home. There is a bit more to it but I don’t have room in this column to give the whole process the credit it deserves. Therefore I highly recommend you reading up about it – and actually treat yourself to a good book on bees. You won’t be disappointed and their lives are far more interesting than those chosen to be on reality TV.

So when the occupants and their new queen leave, they won’t travel too far from the hive initially. They will rest and cluster around the queen to keep her safe whilst the “scout” bees go in search of a new suitable permanent home. Bearing in mind that up to 30,000 bees could have left the hive, some of the clusters or “swarms” that you maybe lucky enough to see can be a fair size – the size of a rugby ball for example.

I have failed to find out what makes them choose this initial temporary resting place but from experience it seems to be something to do with it being the hardest possible place for a keen beekeeper to retrieve them from.

Of all the swarms I have collected, only two have been easy. I have been able to shake the bees into a box, which is then turned upside down to encourage the ones who missed the box to enter it. Please don’t try this at home. It is without a doubt another fascinating aspect of bee life but not as easy or straightforward as it sounds.

Most of the swarms I have been lucky enough to collect have been in the most awkward or almost-inaccessible places – from the framework of a push bike, to the top of an apple tree and lots in between. The photo, left, shows my own bees having made their first stop clustered around my sweet-pea poles, only yards from their old hive. They were really difficult to scoop into a box – although nice and local.

Possibly the most important thing to remember about a swarm of bees is that they are not dangerous. They will be totally preoccupied with guarding their queen and have no malicious intent whatsoever. Also – and I love this bit – before they leave the hive they gorge on honey to keep them sustained during the move. Bees need to be able to bend to sting and they can’t when they have a tummy full of honey. They really are at their most docile. So please leave them alone.

Ideally keep the number of a local beekeeper or beekeeping association in your phone and call them. If you can’t do that, just leave the swarm in peace. As soon as the scouts have found somewhere suitable to move to, they will come back and fetch the others. A swarm will naturally move on by itself – it may take half an hour or a couple of hours but they will move on to somewhere safe when they’re ready.

So many people ask me how they can help the bees – the simple answer is to educate your self on their behaviour. It is absolutely fascinating and there are some brilliant books about bees. Also please make others aware of the importance of leaving a swarm alone and of having a local beekeeping association’s number in your phone.

Thank you.