Wednesday 16 May 2012

Swarm 16/6/12

I had already been having a bit of a day when I got the call, 'Theres an awful lot of bees in the air'. Sure enough the bees were swarming, there was a big cloud of them above the back of the IT lab on the terrace. Security warned, I suited up and went to look with my swarm kit (box and blanket) at the ready. The bees were beginning to settle on the roof above the lab so not much chance of easily catching them. Martin suggested spraying them with water to dissuade them from flying before he could get there. By the time I got back with the spray most of them has disappeared, leaving a small tangerine sized ball on the wall. In a swarm the queen leaves the hive with the flying bees, they settle nearby (the swarm) while scouts go out looking for a new home. Once a suitable one is found, they very quickly fly off to it. The bees have either done this or they have found a way into the roof space above the IT lab. Tomorrow Martin and I will do a hive check to see whats going on as its strange that they would have swarmed, certainly there were still plenty of bees flying in and out of both hives. Ill post again once we've investigated

No comments:

Post a Comment