Swarm season is upon us.

So swarm season is definitely in full swing and we are all trying to stay on top of things and do artificial swarms before our darling colonies split and bugger off.

All that said though it's inevitable that some will get missed and I have already heard of a few swarms being collected.

Today I went out to give Jez a hand with his inspection and as we were just about to leave we saw a swarm coming in to land.

First of all Jez thought it might have been one of Roy's hives as it had a lot of outside activity on our arrival.

A lot of activity outside the hive.

But a quick check still had all the bees there so it definitely wasn't the above hive that had swarmed...and we didn't see one of Jez's swarm....maybe it was one of mine??/ They aren't that far away?!?!?!

Anyway...I was quite pleased to see first hand and close up a swarm and at this point realised that i need to treat my beekeeping just like my gardening and ALWAYS have my camera with me as you never know when you might need it. Needless to say i didn't have my camera with me...i had got a phone though...where was it?? Oh yeah...in my trousers pocket INSIDE my bee suit!!

Well I couldn't NOT photograph this first experience and share with you so I walked away a little and managed o get my phone out only to find the battery starting to die...GGGGGRRRRRRRR.!!!!

I did however with some patience and switching the phone off every now and then to build a little extra life into it manage to get a few shots...not great ones as my phone isn't great but better than nothing.

Picture the scene....Little ole me....dressed like an astronaut......sat crossed legged......under a gorse bush.....with thousands of bees swirling around me.....It was a great moment to 'bee' a part of!!

Swarm of Bees in a gorse bush

Cutting the bush back to get to the swarm.

Getting the 'nuc' into position to shake the bees into.

Nuc with bees on outside 'fanning' to let other bees know where the queen is.

Now all we can do is wait to see if the queen stays..they will be checked in a few days.

So that was my first swarm encounter. Jez said it must have been a.....erm....well not a prime swarm but the other one which name escapes me just now as there weren't that many bees around. I'm sure the name will came back to me?!?!

So in a few days they will need to be checked and fed and then they will need to be treated for varroa before being homed in a full size hive.

Did you know that you immediately become the owner of a swarm you catch??

Do we get to share these then Jez??