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Swarms
You
may encounter honeybees when they are in the early stages of swarming.
This is a critical activity for honeybees, as it is their means
of colony reproduction. Despite all their activity, they are
not usually aggressive to humans during this stage of their lives.
Honeybees
vary in colour, from almost black (like a house-fly) to golden
brown (like a teddy bear).
If
a swarm is in progress, you will see a lot of bees flying and
milling about over about a ten to twenty meter area – the
air will appear thick with bees. If you watch carefully from a
safe distance you will see the activity is centered around a cluster
of bees on a branch (or sometimes a man-made object) usually some
way off the ground. Eventually, in an hour or less, the flying
activity will more-or-less cease and the hanging cluster of bees
will remain in place. Often this cluster will look like a rugby
ball. This is a SWARM – it can be collected by a beekeeper
and turned back into a productive honey-bee colony. Eventually,
if left to itself, this cluster will fly off to a new home, usually
within 24 hours.
You may also find honeybees that have taken up residence in parts
of buildings; cavity walls via airbricks and chimneys are both
popular. In this case all you will see are bees coming and going
in a purposeful way, not milling about. It may be possible to
remove the bees, depending on access and structural considerations.
Very, very occasionally you may come across a swarm cluster that
has forgotten to move on and taken up permanent residence where
it clustered, usually in a thick, well-sheltered hedge.
The
removal of honeybee colonies from structures needs to be planned
by experts. Do not attempt it yourself because, even if you kill
the honeybees, you will leave behind a lot of their honey which
will attract other honeybees and wasps, so you will be back to
where you started. Any residual pesticide will be picked up and
transferred to other colonies of honeybees and kill them too.
Most poisonings of honey bee colonies occur for this reason.
The
so-called ‘killer bees’ (or more correctly, Africanised
honeybees) beloved of movie-makers DO NOT OCCUR IN THE UK.
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