Very warm and sunny day and well into the evening.
Strengthened the steps to the hide that were falling apart. Made a start the other day, job now complete.
Lunchtime a swarm of honey bees arrived in my neighbors magnolia tree. The noise as they flew in was incredible. Not being an expert in such matters I rang the local bee association who responded promptly. The swarm was deep inside the tree so was difficult to deal with. The only way was to cut out some branches. The swarm was placed in a large box, the queen bee was among the swarm so the box was pretty active as stray bees attempted to access the box. It soon became apparent a second queen bee was about as another swarm was soon to appear, bees were appearing from the direction of our garden. This second swarm was quickly dealt with.
The chaps were here almost three hours, very interesting afternoon.
I took the opportunity of asking about the red tailed bees that have taken over the moth trap. It was suggested there was a colony close by and the warmth and light of the trap was causing confusion. Was advised to place a large flower pot over the entrance to last years fox den which is close to the trap.
After clearing the conservatory of bees that were clearly part of the swarm I proceeded to place a large clay pot over the said entrance. In doing so I was aware of being surrounded by red tailed bees, they were in fact using a hole under a branch close to the den. Indeed there is clearly a colony.
I still have the bumblebees being very active in the lawn, think I should invest in a bee keepers outfit?
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