Please find attached two photos of the tree which the bees are living in. My
view is that we won't be extracting the bees this year. I will write to BBOWT
in the hope that the bees can be left in the tree, or that we can extract the
colony once the tree has been reduced in size by tree surgeons.
The opening for the colony is on a central limb approximately 4.5m above
ground. It should be reasonably accessible with a ladder. I have marked on the
photo where the nest entrance is and where I think the cavity is. I was unable
to establish whether the cavity is above the opening (in blue) or below (in
green). I expect it to be below the opening because it appears that several
limbs have grown together, causing and inclosure (marked by a vertical seam)
which has then rotted away. I see no reason why the limb circled in blue would
rot.
The main problem is that all the limbs above the nest cavity are very large.
The limb on the left of the photos is particularly large, extending at least
15m above ground. Opening the limb of the tree to extract the colony might
cause the the limb to weaken and collapse, particularly if the cavity is within
the green circled part of the tree.
In my view the crown needs to be reduced before it will be safe enough to open
the limb. The tree is only threatened because it is hazardous to people who
visit the Nature Reserve. It may be possible for the tree surgeon to reduce the
crown, make the tree safe and leave the bees in place. If the tree must be
completely removed then we might persuade them to remove it in stages so that
we could extract the colony after the crown height is reduced.
There is one more relevant observation. There wasn't much activity at the hive
entrance -- perhaps 1 bee every 2-5 seconds. The colony was very active during
spring, and they assumed that it had swarmed and had not rebuilt its size. They
didn't know when the swarming event had happened. I definitely saw pollen going
in so I assume that the colony is viable. I couldn't tell why it hadn't rebuilt
its size. It may not have had time; there may have been too little forage; or
the colony might be diseased or otherwise distressed.
I will let you know when I have more information from BBOWT.
Will
On 23/08/18 10:38, Will H wrote:
To my great surprise I've just heard back from the Education Officer at BBOWT.
The bees are in an unsafe tree in the Sutton Courtenay Education Centre. The
tree is scheduled to be felled during the winter.
I'm really impressed that the group tracked them down given the fragmented
information.
I'm going there this afternoon to see the site and to establish where in the
nest is in the tree. I'll take a camera and share the images later today.
Will
On 10/08/18 11:18, Will H wrote:
http://www.bbowt.org.uk/sutton-courtenay-environmental-education-centre
https://goo.gl/maps/6W6FCqRvDqB2
I still don't know whether anyone from this group wants to do an extraction,
nor whether we could successfully do it before winter. That notwithstanding, I
phoned BBOWT and I'm hoping for a call back from one of their team.
Will
On 10/08/18 10:51, Andrew Bax (Redacted sender andrew.bax for DMARC) wrote:
That’s probably it! There is a nature reserve in Sutton Courtenay, soon to be
replaced by two vast warehouses. Andrew
From: oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Michael King
Sent: 10 August 2018 10:40
To: oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [oxnatbees] Re: Feral bees in Didcot
Progress - I think !
My wife, Kathryn, has done some research on the options, and based on what we
know, she is fairly convinced that the location for the feral bees is Sutton
Courtenay Environmental Education Centre, run by the local Wildlife Trust.
Hope that helps.
Have a great weekend,
Mick
On Fri, 10 Aug 2018, 09:24 Michael King,
<kingmichael845@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:kingmichael845@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
I have quizzed my wife, who also overheard the conversation, to see whether she
can remember anything else that might help identify the site
She is certain the woman worked in the 'education centre' there, and said the
tree was going to be felled because they get lots of school parties visiting.
So, one more piece in the jigsaw - we are looking for a country park with an
education centre!
Apologies again that this is all so opaque.
Happy bee hunting
Mick
On Fri, 10 Aug 2018, 09:01 Gareth John,
<dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
How about Mobray Fields in Didcot:
https://earthtrust.org.uk/visit-us/mowbrey-fields/ ;?
Gareth
On 10 Aug 2018, at 06:05, Will H
<whanrott@xxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:whanrott@xxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
this is rather a wild goose chase, but let us see whether the internet can
help. I found these possible country parks:
* Stonor is about 20 miles from Didcot towards Wycombe
https://www.stonor.com/discover/park-gardens/
* Basildon Park is about 12 miles from Didcot near Pangbourne
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/basildon-park/features/parkland-at-basildon-park
* Greys court is about 17 miles from Didcot near Henley
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/greys-court/activities
* Shotover is also nearby
I couldn't find any country parks in Didcot or any nearer than 10 miles from
it. Perhaps someone can do better.
Will
On 09/08/18 22:05, Michael King wrote:
Regrettably I don't have any more details.
She was definitely associated with the park, rather than just an interested
member of the public.
I don't know the area, but I assume that there can't be many options for
country parks around Didcot? So, I thought it might perhaps be worth a couple
of phone calls to the likely candidates if anyone is interested in trying to
extract the bees - with or without a piece of tree trunk!
Good luck,
Mick
On Thu, 9 Aug 2018, 19:35 Oxnatbees,
<oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Well.. there are members of the group who still have no bees after swarm season:
* Sam Acton (10 miles from Didcot)
* Liz Robinson (13 miles from Didcot)
* Sarah Pulvertaft (25 miles from Didcot)
* (Anyone else?)
Assuming someone wants them, we'd need to know more about the situation. For
example if they are 30 feet up, or behind a really thick wall of wood, they may
be too challenging to cut out. It's not clear whom to contact, do you have
other details of the woman / country park?
Paul
On 9 August 2018 at 17:14, Michael King
<kingmichael845@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:kingmichael845@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Hi,
I was helping out on the BBKA stand at Countryfile Live at Blenheim last
weekend, and overheard a conversation that might be of interest if anyone is in
the Didcot area.
In summary, a woman from a country park in Didcot was asking for advice about a
colony of wild/feral bees that are under threat at the site.
She said that the colony has been living in a hollow tree there for a long time
- I think over a decade. However, the tree is scheduled to be cut down and she
was keen to see what could be done to save the bees.
I don't think she got much joy in response to her query, so my guess is the
situation is still unresolved.
Sorry the details are a bit sketchy, I was trying to show someone how to make a
skep, so only overheard fragments of the dialogue!
Hopefully it will mean something if you know the area? And I thought I would
pass it on, in case anyone was interested in salvaging what sounds like a hardy
and we'll adapted feral colony.
Best regards
Mick King
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