Tredarrup's friendly swarm of bees
Nature provided this weekends entertainment here at Tredarrup with the arrival on Saturday of a swarm of 15000 bees on the back of Mill Barn. As the sun warmed up so did they… as the swarm got busy. But the bees were totally focused on finding a new place to live before their food reserve in their stomach ran out and did not have the energy for much else – so no need to worry. One of our big attractions for the bees was a nearby Sycamore tree which in flower provides them with up to 40% of their nectar. The characteristic loud hum from a swirling swarm of bees is one of nature’s striking phenomena. A swarm contains the queen bee and about 20, 000 worker bees from the old colony left behind in the hive. A new queen is raised within the hive. A swarm collected in May is useful to beekeepers because the colony of bees is more likely to produce honey in the summer and has longer to get established before the winter. Left alone, the swarm is harmless, and should move on. Sending out a swarm is the natural way in which honey bee colonies increase their numbers, they are looking for new homes. So without delay I called our local bee centre and a nearby bee collector came and took them away to put them back into a bee hive where they will be turned into a productive colony. As honey bees can no longer survive in the wild, it is important to collect swarms and return them to the care of beekeepers. This year it is even more important to save swarms as there is a shortage of honey bees following the disastrous winter losses in 2007-8. Many new beekeepers, and over 2,500 people have taken up beekeeping this year. We need all the bees we can get.
Bees inside the bird hole
Our bees collected and ready to be taken away
Bees need gardeners to help them stay alive
Honey bees (Apis melifera) are essential to our way of life. They are the most effective pollinator of many fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants and trees. To stay alive, bees need forage from February to October, beekeepers to look after them, space for hives and a vigilant public which will tell the experts when a swarm of bees needs collecting. June is a crucial month when many bees can go hungry with a lack of much in flower and with the effects of climate change we have to be careful they don’t starve to death. With the prospect of a glorious summer, now is the crucial time to help honey bees replace the huge number of colonies they have lost over the last two years. The love flowereing vegetables, fuit, flowers and trees and the BBKA’s bee friendly flowering trees are:
- February Acacia dealbata
- March Alnus cordata
- April Amelanchier lamarckii
- May Sorbus x arnoldiana
- June Sorbus aria .Tilia tomentosa
- July Castanea sativa
- August Koelreuteria paniculata
- September Tetradium daniellii
Bee Facts and Figures
In the UK there are approximately 44,000 beekeepers managing around 274,000 hives.
They produce 6000 tones of honey per year.
Pollination contributes £200 million annually to the economy making each hive’s contribution about £700.
In the UK, we produce only 20% of the honey we consume – the rest is imported.
To collect a pound of honey a bee might have to fly a distance equivalent to twice round the world. This is likely to involve more than 10,000 flower visits on perhaps 500 foraging trips.
A queen bee can lay up to 2,000 eggs a day.
In the summer, there are about 50,000 bees in a colony, this reduces to about 20,000 over winter.
The varroa mite reached the UK in 1992 and now infests 95% of hives. Untreated colonies die in 3-4 years. Even low populations of mites reduce vitality and increases the spread of viruses.
Download Ten Things To Do To Help Honey Bees [35KB PDF]
Tags: BBKA, Beekeeping, Bees, Bees in Cornwall, Bees in North Cornwall, Holidays in North Cornwall, Honey, Potreath Bee Centre, Tredarrup
