Honey Bees Swarm in Hedgemead Park
Much excitement in the world of bees this week! One of nature’s great insect spectacles occurred in Hedgemead Park on Thursday when thousands of honey bees began to swarm with their queen. The swarm descended into a tight cluster and attached itself to a shrub next to one of the two gates at the Drumway.
Somewhere in the middle is the queen, with the bees forming a cluster to protect her and to keep themselves warm.
This behaviour is the way bee colonies naturally divide and propagate. A new queen has been created in the hive and the ‘old’ queen leaves with some of the colony. The swarm finds a temporary resting place while scouting bees seek out a suitable location for a new home. You have to marvel at how such complex behaviour emerges from thousands of individual bees all working together. Truly astonishing!
Fortunately, one of our Friends was passing through the park and saw the swarm. She called Simon, a highly experienced Bath beekeeper, who raced over to investigate. Donning his bee keeper’s outfit Simon lifted out the swarm (still attached to a leafy branch) and carefully shook the bees into his swarm box. Despite this handling, the bees were very relaxed and docile.
Within a short time Simon had coaxed most of the bees into the swarm box, which he then lidded and strapped up for the journey to their new, temporary home.
And here they are, safely busying about prior to being placed into the care of young apprentice bee keeper in a new location in Bath.
And that, folks, is a happy ending to another Hedgemead Park adventure. So glad the Friends could assist!
