Wild Honey Bees swarm in for Jubilee celebrations.

With the Jubilee celebrations only days away, a retired Mansfield couple started to prepare their bungalow and gardens for a weekend of entertaining. With baking underway and bunting hung up in the enclosed rear garden, the next few days were set for a memorable event.

With Saturday approaching, a mid-day test run was planned as the sun steadily peaked with hardly a cloud to spoil. Access and adequate seating for the disabled lady was made. She thoroughly enjoyed her passion for her garden and had nurtured many plants to be in full bloom ready for this very special occasion.

Then, within moments of starting to enjoy the scene and appreciate all their efforts, the couple were visited by a passing swarm of honey bees. Unaware of what was about to happen, the couple were both amazed and petrified as the bees descended and the situation quickly became quite dramatic. The entire garden was filled with thousands of bees in the air. Needless to say, the couple made a speedy retreat inside.

In a panic as they had never experienced this before, their first thought was to contact the Pest Control team at the local council. Unfortunately, the response was ‘sorry, we do not touch honeybees’. In the meantime, the swarm had decided to land and make themselves at home in one of the garden’s chimney pots, which was being used as a stand for a plant pot. This created the sort of cavity that bees seem to love to occupy. The couple were not comfortable sitting in the garden so close to so many bees, and moved their celebrations indoors until a solution could be found. Three days later they eventually found me at Mansfield Honey Bees via the keywords on my website, stating how we save, relocate and rehome bees but do not exterminate them.

Having collected 24 swarms from the Mansfield area in just over two weeks, this season is by far the busiest in my 7 years of being a bee keeper. I am a member of the local bee group (Chesterfield & District Beekeepers Association) and sit on the committee. We are trying to promote the importance of education. There is a new and increasing trend of people keeping bees at home with little or no understanding of the bees, and this is causing problems and issues such as this incident. With the correct knowledge and proper training, bee keepers will be able to spot signs of congestion in a hive, which is one of a few reasons why bees decide to swarm, and this in turn will reduce the chances of bees becoming a nuisance.

Back at the couple’s property, a survey was arranged. The images below show what I found.

The bees had by then established themselves within the chimney pot garden ornament, so the decision was made not remove the colony and cause unnecessary stress to the bees. Instead, we removed the whole pot, complete with bees inside (but sealed in for transportation), to be relocated at a suitable site several miles away. From there, the bees will now happily continue their lives within their chosen home.