Everybody in - don't panic!
11 comments
Yesterday my plans to do a little gardening were foiled when I saw this through the kitchen window …
Not the greatest of photos but I was indoors, didn’t fancy being stung by a Bee at all!
They gathered together and settled in the Escallonia hedging for about 3 hours. Later in the day a post on our village Facebook page remarked on seeing many Bees flying across their garden and here’s a comment posted today.
*As there was a post about a swarm of bees posted I thought I would add a few more details.
You see a swarm of bees this time of year because it’s when beehives see a big population explosion to get ready for the nectar and pollen harvest . It’s also a way of increasing bee numbers .Basically an old queen takes half the workers and males and sets up a new hive.
The old hive will make or has made a new queen and the process can begin again.
Male bees called drones are bigger and have much bigger eyes .They don’t have stingers and their only job is to lounge around eating honey and pollen and then mate with a queen ( sound familiar ladies 😆😆).
Female worker bees do all the jobs in the beehive.
When first born they become nurse bees and look after the eggs . Roughly every 10 days they change jobs and then become house bees cleaning the hive and making comb . And finally they become forager bees . It’s only the older bees that become foragers because when a bees dies at about 40 days they don’t return to the hive . They will sleep outside the hive and if they see another sunrise they will keep working. Older bees also become guard bees as they don’t have long to live and don’t mind stinging you🙄😆.
Finally the only difference between a queen bee and a regular bee is that she is fed on royal jelly her whole life. Now she will live for up to 5 years not 40 days . They are fascinating to me . Anyway I hope you found it interesting and sorry for the long post.
If you look to the centre of the photo you should be able to see the Bees all cuddled up together!
Every day’s a school day!
4 May, 2025
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Comments
Ame zing and interesting information.
Shirley, please send me some of them:-) I have seen very few bees in our garden this year. I am worried about our fruit trees.
5 May, 2025
Very informative blog, Shirley. I’m always keen to learn new things.
I do love to see and hear bees in the garden, crikey you definitely had a swarm there!!!!
5 May, 2025
Thanks everyone for looking in. I'm happy to say no swarm of Bees around today!
It's turned really cold, only 10 degrees but feels colder as the wind is blowing, brrr!
6 May, 2025
Interesting info. Chilly here too.
6 May, 2025
Must have given you quite a shock seeing so many bees in your garden, Shirley!
6 May, 2025
Wow, very interesting Shirley, I didn't know any of that in your post about the Bees . Thank you xx
7 May, 2025
I love to see the bees busy working in the garden, but seeing these would have given me a shock and would have stayed clear.
Very interesting blog Shirley.
9 May, 2025
Thanks Josie, David, Callie and Rose. Today is a beautifully sunny day, no swarm of Bees around so I shall garden in the shady part of the garden later.
10 May, 2025
Glad to hear, Shirley, that the bees have now gone & you can go out into your garden without the fear of being stung by a bee!
15 May, 2025
Thanks David ... :o)
18 May, 2025
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It’s a few years since we had a swarm in our garden. We could hear them coming from a couple of gardens away. They settled for the night in the Horse Chestnut tree and left at dawn the next day. They flew into the disused hives next door but one and that neighbour got someone to collect them. I would have been too scared to go outside as well with all your visitors. Luckily our visitors were right at the top of our garden. Thanks for the information Shirley.
4 May, 2025