[oxnatbees] Part 2 of the Dee Bee swarm saga!

From: "Jane denby" <dmarc-noreply-outsider@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ("janedenby")
To: oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 25 May 2022 19:24:50 +0100

On Saturday at the Dee Bee tea we had a lovely swarm go into our neighbours
garden. After many attempts we very sensibly decided that the swarm was not
possible to reach. My neighbour Martin was away when we had a go, but I showed
him the swarm on the Sunday. He was very keen to put up some tower scaffolding
but we persuaded him that it really was not worth it and also tricky to get at
it. We both have been watching them in the hope that we would see them fly off
to an easier place. Last night I noticed a very tall ladder leaning against the
very slender tree with the swarm in it but decided to ignore it. I really did
not want Martin ( 75 years old) going up it!
This morning the doorbell rang very early and to my absolute surprise and joy
was Martin plus the swarm! He had been going up and down the ladder since dawn,
cutting off a side branch one at a time and then letting them settle. How he
managed to carry down the branch from a very high ladder all by himself…he had
used a butterfly net as a bee veil. It was a wonderful sight to see!
I did a bit more trimming and shook them into a skep, the bees were delighted
to have a dark cosy place, and I have never seen such a quick gathering in.
After advice from Paul I decided to put them in the queenless TBH straightaway.
I used a leaderboard as a divider and they have separate entrances on different
sides of the TBH. No mad frenzy or fighting and so hopefully it works and they
are not too exhausted.
Martin is a gentle soul and would love a hive to watch over. He has recently
lost his beloved cat William, who was his only companion. If anyone has an old
hive they don’t want, any shape, sort or condition we would love to take it on
as a project with him. He is extremely practical so could make do and mend! His
garden is a wild oasis and I think he has shown that he loves bees and is even
maybe a bee whisperer!
Cheers Jane

Follow-Ups:
- [oxnatbees] Re: Part 2 of the Dee Bee swarm saga!
  - From: Barbara Elizabeth Robinson

[oxnatbees] Part 2 of the Dee Bee swarm saga!

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