Remember the bees from last week? Well swarms like that are supposed to move on in a couple of days once they’ve found somewhere new to call home. This swarm however had no plans of moving and at least ten days from their first appearance they were still clinging to the same branch.
It turns out they were cast from the hive of a bee keeper, rather than a natural one. Maybe that added to the rehoming confusion? Anyway, they couldn’t cling to that branch forever, so two beekeepers turned up in all the gear to collect them and take them to a new hive. I thought it would only be fair to finish the bee story with you guys, so I grabbed my camera.
I had no idea how they were going to get these little guys in the box that they’d brought. I imagined Ghost Buster style bee vacuums (apparently these do exist), or a some sweet nectar bait and lots of waiting around, but a careful snip of the branch was all it needed.
The beekeepers then checked through the swarm to find the queen and made sure she was in the box. At that point the sky filled with honey bees and I backed off steadily.
I couldn’t see the keepers managing to get them in to the box now, but slowly and surely the bees made their way in to protect their Queen. It almost looked easy.
Tamsin | A Certain Adventure says
So interesting! Thanks for sharing the next stage of the process – must have been scary seeing that number of bees! A huge number of wasps has made a nest in our garden and I have to say I’d much prefer honeybees!