Inbound

I had been expecting a swarm because there had been lots of scout bees around my bait hive but I didn't know when it would arrive or where it was coming from.  I have had a few swarms of my own after the very cold weather in most of May followed by sudden warmth at the end of the month and I suspected it would be from one of my hives.  I also heard news of a swarm in a tree not far away on the other side of the golf course.

In the end the swarm's arrival was very sudden so I didn't see from which direction it came.  I had walked past the bait hive a minute before with no sign of bees and when I returned there were thousands and thousands of bees in the air.  Almost immediately they started filing into the box.

In retrospect the bait hive wasn't well situated as it was on top of a wall with quite an overhang.  Many of the bees landed on the side of the wall and walked up towards the hive entrance.

Such was their weight as they climbed up over each other that great clumps of them broke off and fell into the grass so they had to start all over again.

It was fascinating to see how they formed chains so that the others could climb up to the entrance.

It was also interesting to see quite a few drones and some workers with pollen, all swept along in the excitement. I can tell from their colour these were not my bees and I hadn't lost a swarm that morning so I think this may have been the swarm from the golf course.

This was the scene 25 minutes after they arrived, with some still under the overhang but nearly all inside the box.

By the following morning the bees were safely installed on a friend's allotment in Jesmond.  I hope they turn out to be well behaved.