Swarms of bees are among us

As the weather gets warmer, we start receiving calls and messages about swarms of bees.

Honey bee swarming is a natural and fascinating phenomenon that occurs primarily during the warmer months, typically from late spring to early summer. Swarming is how honey bee colonies reproduce and establish new colonies.

Recently, we've been quite busy collecting swarms this can be an exciting time for beekeepers, though not always for the public, especially when bees are swarming.

We had recently been advised of two swarms within Barrow-in-Furness.

The first swarm was a nice bundle of bees in a tree on a street, which was easily transported into a box with the assistance of Tony, a local resident. Tony, who reported the swarm, was very kind in assisting Joe with the collection and managed to get stung in the process but wasn't phased or scared of as his interest kept him endorsed by the beautiful sights of bees marching into the transport box.

Our second collection was nearby, but the location of the new nest was less ideal: a bathroom vent. The family’s bathroom vent had started allowing bees to access the bathroom and then become stuck. We reassured Khyla, the homeowner, that the bees would be at their most docile stage during swarming and not to be too scared. We assured her we'd come the very next day the assess the job.

The next day, we faced the challenge. Since we’re beekeepers, not builders, we prefer not to cause damage to property. We planned to smoke the bees out from inside the bathroom. Khyla's partner Phil, who was very intrigued by the process, helped with the smoking duty.

Using the smoker, he forced smoke from inside the building to the vent, prompting the bees to emerge. Joe carefully kept a sharp eye and managed to collect the queen and place her safely in a queen cage. With the queen secured, the rest of the bees began to join her.

This also ensured we had created no damage to the property making the owners and Joe very happy.

As a thank you and to mask the smell of smoke we had dropped one of our scented beeswax candles with some wax melts.

If you find or happen to have a swarm of bees firstly don't panic as bees within the swarming stage are at the most docile in temperament, give them space and contact your local beekeeper or pest controller. If your local within the Furness area you can always contact us.

Stay tuned for our next blog and see how the bees are getting on with moving in to our apiary.