Several of the OWLs take an interest in all aspects of the Forest and one had spotted something a bit unusual – a swarm of bees hanging from a branch in the middle of the track.
And this was a BIG swarm! (that whole mass is just bees!)
If they were honeybees they wouldn’t cause too much trouble. Unless someone walked right into them – which being in the middle of the track would be possible, especially if distracted by views elsewhere. Or if anyone decided to knock the hell out of it with a stick.
OWL is keen to ensure cruising can continue safely so action was needed. Only one thing for it – a message and pic to OWL’s Resident Apiarist for confirmation of whether or not it was a honey bee swarm; and suggestions of what to do with it (he can be relied upon to give a good answer to that question under any circumstances!).
It turns out that it was a honey bee swarm and it would be advantageous to remove it. Plans were made to undertake the task the following morning.
A quick check with our friendly Forest Keeper that it wouldn’t be against the byelaws to remove it and it was agreed that pragmatically getting on and removing it would be wise.
It’s not unusual to see men dressed in unusual gear walking round the Forest so a guy in a beekeeper’s suit wasn’t really out of place and received no attention at all.
Preparation over (remove lid of box) it was time to act. A quick snip of the branch
and the swarm was in the box. That’s in the region of 20,000 bees!
Lid on with a bit of a gap to allow those outside to get in with their mates (this surely has to be the largest intimate gathering that has ever occured in the woods at Snaresbrook!?).
Then a wait of maybe 20 minutes to allow those bees that had left the swarm to understand where their queen was and get back to her (maybe they took a while because there were other queens around in the woods and they were distracted!)
Finally, with most having gone back into the box (the stragglers would find their ways back to the colony they had first come from) time to seal them in ready for their ride to a better place – one of our apiarist’s hives which was waiting for them.
Apparently its a good time of year to gather a swarm from the wild. As the old adage says:
A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay;
A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon;
A swarm of bees in July isn’t worth a fly.
Hmmm!
There are other things to do in the woods. And, like a bee sting, they also cause swelling! Good deed over it’s back to cruising! Bees aren’t the only things to produce sweet sticky stuff.
LATEST UPDATE! The bees have settled in to their new home well and are already out foraging.