Not quite the greeting we had in mind for our guests

Posted by Rosie

About an hour after guests arrived for an Easter break in the gite there was a shout from outside.  "There's a swarm of wasps!"

Bee swarm on a fence post

"In April," I thought, "surely not?"  I was right - there wasn't a swarm of wasps there was a swarm of BEES enveloping a huge area in front of the barn and play area.  Children and dogs were hurriedly sent to the safety of indoors before Chris and I (from a very safe distance) watched to see what they'd do.  They seemed to be homing in on the old cherry tree but eventually swarmed down onto a fence post below it, in a large rugby ball-sized mass.  Apparently the swarm would be out looking for a new place to nest but if the queen gets tired before then she will look what somewhere to rest, sometimes for an hour, sometimes for a couple of days.  I have also since learnt that swarming bees rarely sting as they feed well before swarming and find it difficult to sting.  I didn't know this when I went to take this photo so you'll understand why I didn't hang around too long to get it fully in focus.

I have contacted a bee keeper to see if he'll try and take them to his hives but he may be too far away.  Otherwise I will just let them do their thing and head off to find a suitable nest site.  Bee keeping is something Simon and I would like to do but following a forum where the subject is discussed (Downsizer) I know I have a lot to learn before getting  hives and bees.  Let's hope another swarm settles here when we are ready.