Bees!

[Guineafowl]

Looks like a swarm. I’ve messaged a couple of beekeeping mates, although I’m not sure if they’re the right type.

 

[Porkypine]

Wonder how you'd catch 'em all ?

 

[eSCHEn]

If you can find the queen and get her into a box then the rest of the swarm will quite likely join her.

When they are swarming they are generally docile as there's no resources (honey, grubs etc) to guard.

Texas Beeworks on YT (https://www.youtube.com/@TexasBeeworks/videos) is brilliant to learn on this stuff, she is quite fantastic to watch!

 

[johnik]

i got millions (quite a few) in my garden, i put some sugary water out for them, just hope my faithfull hound understand my words of wisdom about chasing them

 

[Guineafowl]

I’ve seen them before, going in a big ball around the queen, then a beekeeper sweeping the lot into a box.

They seem to be going in to a hole in the wall. Not sure how I feel about that…

 

[Beanwood]

I’ve seen them before, going in a big ball around the queen, then a beekeeper sweeping the lot into a box.

They seem to be going in to a hole in the wall. Not sure how I feel about that…

Oh dear - you're pretty much stuck - once the queen is in, they won't want to come out again en-masse.
If they can live there without causing grief - leave them to it. If they're a problem you need to consider either killing them, or building work to extract them from where they are.
I've tried bee-vacs before, but generally little success.

Once they've gone - seal up that hole, otherwise you WILL get another swarm in there next year or so.

 

[Guineafowl]

Oh dear - you're pretty much stuck - once the queen is in, they won't want to come out again en-masse.
If they can live there without causing grief - leave them to it. If they're a problem you need to consider either killing them, or building work to extract them from where they are.
I've tried bee-vacs before, but generally little success.

Once they've gone - seal up that hole, otherwise you WILL get another swarm in there next year or so.

Thanks - I’ll leave them. Nice to have some pollinators around.

I may be going in there when I install an electrician installs a new sub-main to the workshop sometime later this year. Perhaps I can harvest some honey. When will they be gone?

 

[RWD3M]

Thanks - I’ll leave them. Nice to have some pollinators around.

I may be going in there when I install an electrician installs a new sub-main to the workshop sometime later this year. Perhaps I can harvest some honey. When will they be gone?

I had a colony of bees set up home in the cavity of my old workshop (a space 6' high, 2' wide and about 3" deep). They were there for quite a few years, certainly upwards of 5. I could spend hours, stood just a foot or so away from the 2 or 3 knot holes they used to get in and out, just watching them come and go. Fascinating. They were finally taken away by a local bee keeper when I needed to take the old shed down to build a new one. he suggested there were between 40 and 50,000 bees in the colony at the time. I've got pics somewhere.

Edit: This is the only one I can find at the moment, it's part of what came out after the bee keeper had managed to remove the queen.

 

[RWD3M]

Wonder how you'd catch 'em all ?

You don't, you've only got to catch the queen and as @eSCHEn says, the rest will follow

 

[Beanwood]

If left alone, they won't leave. They may well die out after several years, having spawned a swarm, or two (Or three..) every year.
Average colony of bees is 50-75,000 - 90+% girls, and only one queen. They can get grumpy in June (The June gap) or if the queen dies. IF the Queen expires, you don't want to be near them....
Are they in a cavilty wall, or have they just found some space in the loft/behind the facia board? One of your BK mates will be able to give better advic once they see where they are.

 

[xillent]

Looks like a swarm. I’ve messaged a couple of beekeeping mates, although I’m not sure if they’re the right type.

I've a few mates like that

 

[bourbon]

I was on a leatherworking site yesterday. a two ounce block of bees wax is £4-0 +P&P !!!!!

 

[frank horton]

They norm cluster close to the queen not all over the wall.....
Almost always it's the old queen that leaves the orig hive, that leaves the young queen to repopulate....
These swarms even if captured and re housed never do well, in cases like this if I could capture the swarm I used to kill the queen and replace her with a freshly hatched one....
cant say I ever had a swarm with a fresh queen.....
The reason for wanting to catch a swarm from the B keeper perspective u need numbers of workers......
That queen will be very short lived.....
no hive, no brood so in short they will usually die out esp as in ur case u really dont have a lot of bees...
After they swarm the queen will often just rest up for a day /overnight.....
there will be spotters out looking for a better place....
Perhps u'll get up in the morning and they will be gone.....
I'd like a £ for every swarm I went to collect that disapeared.....
I was a registered B keeper with the local council/Police...

Just to say they need to find a home and build comb very quickly to survive the winter.
she needs workers and vast amounts of honey very quickly.....a good young queen can lay a thousand eggs a day....
A big stong hive with a young queen in the right curcumstances can "bee" 100,000-150,000 strong...

 

[Beanwood]

They norm cluster close to the queen not all over the wall.....
Almost always it's the old queen that leaves the orig hive, that leaves the young queen to repopulate....
These swarms even if captured and re housed never do well, in cases like this if I could capture the swarm I used to kill the queen and replace her with a freshly hatched one....
cant say I ever had a swarm with a fresh queen.....
The reason for wanting to catch a swarm from the B keeper perspective u need numbers of workers......
That queen will be very short lived.....
no hive, no brood so in short they will usually die out esp as in ur case u really dont have a lot of bees...
After they swarm the queen will often just rest up for a day /overnight.....
there will be spotters out looking for a better place....
Perhps u'll get up in the morning and they will be gone.....
I'd like a £ for every swarm I went to collect that disapeared.....
I was a registered B keeper with the local council/Police...

Just to say they need to find a home and build comb very quickly to survive the winter.
she needs workers and vast amounts of honey very quickly.....a good young queen can lay a thousand eggs a day....
A big stong hive with a young queen in the right curcumstances can "bee" 100,000-150,000 strong...

You wouldn't have a swarm with a fresh queen though would you - as the queen lays up the cells, they get sealed, then she buggers off with half of the workforce. A good queen should last 4 years - and she's likely to swarm after 1 year in the right conditions. So she could have 3 years left.... and if she's calm I'd keep her for a bit as a known quantity.

For others interested: New queen has to hatch, possibly kill off the others (Sometimes as many as 10 queen cells are laid), wait around a number of days before she can fly, then go and get mated.
She only has a short window (5 days?), and if she doesn't get mated, that's bad news for the original colony.
There may be multiple queens hatch, and they may 'swarm' producing a cast - MUCH fewer bees, and those are usually unsustainable.

I think you'd agree @frank horton if they're looking for somewhere, they'd normally be in a branch/gate/fence, not IN a structure. By the time they're in, they aren't coming back out.

Prime swarms are great for the new beekeepers - feed them and they will build all fresh comb.
They may survive well where you are, as long as tehy have a good supply of food and water locally.
They're very bad for the orignal beekeeper, as they've gorged themselves on all the stores in preparation for their flight, and rebuilding their new home....

And if I sound sanctimonious - I am far from the perfect beekeeper - here's one that swarmed from my colonies a number of years ago now.... The queen will be in the middle. I put them in a basket bythe handful, and managed to rehome them...

@Guineafowl - how dark was the sky when they were flying - a large colony can be quite loud, and block a lot of light...

 

[frank horton]

Mr beanwood,
glad there is someone on here that likes em.....
I miss my bee's....now super allergic to the venom.....helped a friend with an Africanised hive or two in S France.....hospital job....that was the finish.....
sold everything off, breaks my heart....
our bee's fly here all year round......
still got my smoker....lol..
I used to get between 2 and 21/2 tons of honey per year.....and always left at least one full box of honey for their winter food.....
some years there was always a couple of queen cells.....often I kill one and leave em to sort it out or make a nuc.....had a lot of hives but little time.....
because of my situation my hives were over 10 miles away....
Now I've got loads'a time but cant do it....grrrr...
have a good season....

 

[Beanwood]

Mr beanwood,
glad there is someone on here that likes em.....
I miss my bee's....now super allergic to the venom.....helped a friend with an Africanised hive or two in S France.....hospital job....that was the finish.....
sold everything off, breaks my heart....
our bee's fly here all year round......
still got my smoker....lol..
I used to get between 2 and 21/2 tons of honey per year.....and always left at least one full box of honey for their winter food.....
some years there was always a couple of queen cells.....often I kill one and leave em to sort it out or make a nuc.....had a lot of hives but little time.....
because of my situation my hives were over 10 miles away....
Now I've got loads'a time but cant do it....grrrr...
have a good season....

I’m in a similar situation- kept bees for years- left them most of the honey as it was only of secondary. SWMBO became really fearful of them after a couple of my larger colonies (double 14x12s so about the 150k bees mentioned above) became grumpy and she would no longer go into the garden.kept them 5 miles away but it just takes so much more time and energy…
Still have the suit, extractor, tools, boxes, kielers…etc just in case I decide to go back to it

 

[Dozzer]

As a beekeeper for a few years.
1. colonies can swam multiply times, sometimes until the original colony is no longer viable. depends on the genetics.
2. a swarm is only docile for the first few days, if they start drawing comb, even in a tree they will become defensive (Found out hard way with 12 stings in shorts!!)
3. colonies have no finite life, when they swarm and the old queen goes, they will have quite a few queen cells, as @Beanwood says. we have an colony in a church wall that has been going over 20 years, they even have a sign in the grave yard saying "bees at work.
4. sometimes you get more than one new queen wants to take over the hive, then you get them pipping in the hive so they can find one and other and they fight till the death!!
was lucky enough to capture it in one of our hives few years ago.
They do make some odd noises including growling!

 

[Beanwood]

As a beekeeper for a few years.
1. colonies can swam multiply times, sometimes until the original colony is no longer viable. depends on the genetics.
2. a swarm is only docile for the first few days, if they start drawing comb, even in a tree they will become defensive (Found out hard way with 12 stings in shorts!!)
3. colonies have no finite life, when they swarm and the old queen goes, they will have quite a few queen cells, as @Beanwood says. we have an colony in a church wall that has been going over 20 years, they even have a sign in the grave yard saying "bees at work.
4. sometimes you get more than one new queen wants to take over the hive, then you get them pipping in the hive so they can find one and other and they fight till the death!!
was lucky enough to capture it in one of our hives few years ago.
They do make some odd noises including growling!

Good point on #2 - I hadn’t remembered that.
The piping is weird isn’t it- first time I heard it was quite a shock- thought I was hearing things! I likened it to a really tiny hunting horn - which thinking back now it probably was
The first swarm I saw was similar to the OP’s - going in to a neighbours facia board. Got my first bees two years later- and when the next swarm turned up next door I had to explain they weren’t mine..
Same thing happened 3 weeks ago and I don’t have bees here anymore…kind of a relief really..

 

[Dozzer]

Good point on #2 - I hadn’t remembered that.
The piping is weird isn’t it- first time I heard it was quite a shock- thought I was hearing things! I likened it to a really tiny hunting horn - which thinking back now it probably was
The first swarm I saw was similar to the OP’s - going in to a neighbours facia board. Got my first bees two years later- and when the next swarm turned up next door I had to explain they weren’t mine..
Same thing happened 3 weeks ago and I don’t have bees here anymore…kind of a relief really

We only have 7 hives at the mo, its more my better half's hobby, but i quite like having them around, and im there for all the heavy lifting, like when the hives are 6 suppers high, good lady cant lift them off, they are taller than her
We have some Buckfast that ar stupidly productive, our best hive has produced 80kg so far and have another 4 on at the moment that they have nearly capped!

 

[Beanwood]

Make sure to leave them plenty -there’s a lot of bees to feed