It was also decided that the swarm from the second colony may well have returned to the hive on its own accord, but may have been equally as likely to disappear off over the horizon. Catching the swarm was therefore the right thing to do, but we have now put the bees from this swarm back into the hive from whence it came. Lets hope they stay there this time!

As is becoming customary for us, we re-united the swarm with its original colony under the cover of darkness (almost) last night.

Al.

It’s certainly interesting and if our exploits are anything to go by they’ll keep you busy! It is pretty cool having bees at the bottom of the garden though and if we get any honey from them then it’ll be a bonus!

There’s more to it than you might think though.

Al.

Yep, a swarm is usually the queen leaving the hive, along with half of the colony. They are off to pastures new to set up a new colony. It is their way of reproducing, so it’s not really a bad thing as far as the bees are concerned, but it is for the beekeeper as he/she is loosing half his/her bees and probably the chance of any honey for that year with it.

As far as we know though this is the second swarm to leave this colony and it looks as though our other hive is about to follow suit as well – I wouldn’t hold out hope for too much Ynyslas honey this year!

I only hope we have some bees left by the end of the summer so that they can make it through the winter – We paid out over £300 for our bees this year, we don’t want to just see them all fly away!

Al.

Please excuse my bee-related ignorance!