The Swarm

I’m feeling massively grateful today.

On Sunday evening, my husband found a dozen or so drowsy bees in our bathroom.  By lunchtime yesterday, an entire swarm had joined them, getting into the house through a pipe in the wall and finding its way into the bathroom through a broken tile.

A couple of panicked phone calls later and I’d discovered they were honey bees, looking for a new home and trying to decide whether our house fitted the bill.  It wouldn’t be possible to capture the swarm, I was told, and take it elsewhere.  So, unless we fancied coexistence, our choices were to leave home or kill the bees.  This tale, it seemed, was doomed not to have a happy ending.

Last night, however, the swarm made up its mind.  It didn‘t like the look of our house, after all (should I be affronted or relieved?).  It upped and off, leaving just a few confused bees still looking for their queen.

What a reprieve!  For the bees and for me.  I was appalled to think I might be responsible for the destruction of precious honey bees.   But living together was definitely NOT an option!  Let’s trust the swarm finds its perfect home today - one it doesn‘t have to share with humans.

P.S. I’m not a bee expert so haven’t a clue whether the bee in the photo is a honey bee or not.  The picture’s from my archives.  There’s absolutely no way I was doing a photo shoot with yesterday’s swarm!