Bee Blog

What is it and how did it begin?   World Bee Day is a worldwide, officially recognised day, started by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. It is designed to raise awareness of the essential role bees and other pollinators play in keeping people and the planet healthy, and of the many challenges they face today.  The day has been celebrated since 2018, originally proposed by the Government of Slovenia which led to the UN General Assembly declaring 20 May as World Bee Day.    Why 20 May? This is the birthday of Anton Janša, a pioneering beekeeper who came from a family of beekeepers in Slovenia, where beekeeping is a traditional and important agricultural practice.  We know that bees, pollinators, and many other insect numbers are declining and this day provides an opportunity to highlight ways in which we can all improve the outcome for bees and beekeeping.    At Lakeside, we care for many thousands of bees in our apiary at the edge of the New Forest and they produce for us a delicious local honey, as well as providing wax for candles and other products. The health benefits of honey have been known for millennia and more is being discovered all the time on the beneficial properties of truly local and unadulterated honey.  Call 07973 442069 for details.   Whilst celebrating the essential part bees have to play in keeping people healthy, a bee colony in the wrong place can cause a lot of anxiety.  Bees can make their presence felt in many ways, not least the constant buzzing, but also the wax and honey causing staining and damage to walls and other surfaces.  Dripping honey will also attract pests.   We are able to advise on the best way to humanely rescue swarms and nests that have found their way into domestic and business premises.   It is essential that such tasks are undertaken by professionals with the correct equipment both to remove the bees and prevent re-colonisation.  The safety of our operatives and the protection of your property are paramount.   If you find a honey bee colony has moved into a part of your property, whether it’s a chimney stack, brick wall or wooden shed, we can help you with safe removal. Our aim wherever possible is to avoid dismantling your home, and to protect the colony.   Lakeside Bee Services offers a range of products and services to support the preservation of bee populations. Our live bee removal services are designed to safely remove bees from unwelcome locations and bring them back to our country garden apiary, where the colony can thrive.

As the weather warms up, we approach the time when bees may swarm.   This is a natural process of reproduction for a colony and is most likely to happen in Spring. Worker bees feed the queens throughout the year. When the hive is getting ready to swarm the workers will stop feeding her before the anticipated swarm date and the queen will stop laying eggs. This is so that she is not too heavy to fly.  When the time comes to move on, bee “scouts” search the area for suitable sites and will report back with the location of suitable nesting sites to the other bees in the colony. Before the swarm emerges, scout bees will find a nearby location for the swarm to gather. They do not fly far at first. They may hang in a tree or on a branch only a short distance from the hive. They cluster about the queen and send more scout bees go out to find new nest locations. This pit-stop is not permanent and they will normally leave within a few hours. From this temporary home the cluster will pick the final nest site based on the level of excitement of the “waggle dances” of the scout bees. Honey bees are quite vulnerable during swarming as they only carry as much food (nectar or honey) as their stomachs can hold. They could starve if they do not find a secure home and new nectar sources. This is more likely if they leave on a warm day followed by wet or cold weather. A good nesting site for honey bees must be large enough to accommodate their swarm and well protected from the elements.  It will have a small entrance and gain a certain amount of warmth from the sun.  Chimneys, wall cavities and roof spaces are often favoured. The scout bees ”waggle dance” is a masterclass in communication.   It will indicate the distance, direction and quality of the site to the others in the swarm.  The more excitable the dance, the more the scout is promoting her findings.  If the other scouts like what they see, they will inspect the proposed site and return to boost it to the colony. Several sites may be promoted by different scouts but, a favourite location gradually emerges from this decision-making process. The swarm can only survive for about three days on the honey on which they gorged themselves before leaving the hive, so a fairly speedy decision is needed. When the scout bees agree on the nest site the whole clustered swarm takes off and flies to it. It may be a kilometre or more to the new site, with the scouts acting as guides by flying above the swarm in the right direction.  This is an amazing demonstration of collective action for the wellbeing and reproduction of the honey bee colony. A swarm of bees can be alarming, although they are not normally aggressive at this point, as they are more concerned with looking after the queen and finding a new nest site. Bees tend to swarm near their hives or honeycombs, so if a swarm is visible then a nest is nearby.  Our advice is to keep your distance and call the experts. If you find a honey bee colony has moved into a part of your property, whether it’s a chimney stack, brick wall or wooden shed, we can help you with safe removal. Our aim wherever possible is to avoid dismantling your home, and to protect the colony. Lakeside Bee Services offers a range of products and services to support the preservation of bee populations. Our live bee removal services are designed to safely remove bees from unwelcome locations and bring them back to our country garden apiary, where the colony can thrive.  

If you suspect that you have a bee swarm on your property, the first thing for us to establish is the location and size of the colony.  We do this in a number of ways, and we have state of the art equipment to help us.    Firstly we use our human senses: Sight – there are tell-tale signs of bee occupation, including staining where honey or propolis may have penetrated or dripped through walls or ceilings.  Propolis is a resinous mixture that honey bees produce by mixing saliva and beeswax with secretions gathered from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources. It is used as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the beehive.  Sound – buzzing and humming can sometimes become very loud, especially if the colony is in a chimney or wall cavity which could act as an echo chamber. Smell – honey and beeswax do give off an aroma, propolis smells like tree resin. Touch – bee colonies vibrate and it is possible that a hand on the wall may give a clue to the bees’ location.   Once the immediate checks are completed, often using nothing more complex than a torch and binoculars, we may need to progress to more technical equipment. Thermal imaging will allow us to determine the location and size of the colony (see picture).  The main brood will be at a constant 34◦C but the hive could be anything up to four times larger than the image as the honey or wax will not be as warm.   Once the general location of the bees is pinpointed, we can use an endoscope to discover the exact dimensions of the colony.  A small hole would be drilled in the plasterboard or wall and the endoscope inserted to determine the extremities of the hive.  The size of the hive will give some indication of how long it has been in residence as they can grow up to 1 metre in a year.  Hives are often 3 metres square before we are called in.   For colonies that have lodged high up in a building, we have a drone, fully licensed and insured for the purpose.  It weighs about 250 grammes and can take aerial shots to locate any entrance points that the bees are using.  It can also look down a chimney.  This is very helpful in larger properties where there are several chimneys and possible entrance points.  This equipment is also very useful for a close up inspection of the roof of the building, in the event of our having to access the hive from the roof.  We have to ensure that our operatives would be safe working at height.  Another handy gadget is the chimney camera.  This clever device can “climb” up inside a chimney or shaft to get a good image of the colony. If the colony is only accessible from a high point, we will hire a mobile platform or scaffolding to gain access.  Speaking of safety, the inspection can also allow us to see where any power and utility channels run and if any of the materials used in construction of the building would be unsafe to handle, eg asbestos.  In this event, we would refer the householder/business owner to a specialist for the safe removal before proceeding. Once we have a clear idea of the situation, we would proceed to remove the colony.  This is usually achieved by cutting out part of the wall or brickwork and would normally be completed in one day, including the making-good.  If this is not permissible or advisable, for example in a listed building, the alternative is to trap out the bees.  This is a much longer process and involves enticing the bees away, whilst blocking up their access points. If you find a honey bee colony has moved into a part of your property, whether it’s a chimney stack, brick wall or wooden shed, we can help you with safe removal. Our aim wherever possible is to avoid dismantling your home, and to protect the colony. Lakeside Bee Services offers a range of products and services to support the preservation of bee populations. Our live bee removal services are designed to safely remove bees from unwelcome locations and bring them back to our country garden apiary, where the colony can thrive.

  Bee Friendly Planting   Bees have been making honey for over one hundred and fifty million years. To make 450gms of honey, bees fly over 55,000 miles, or twice around the world. Though a few colonies exist in the wild, the majority are domesticated, living in hives all year round. A single bee hive may contain as many as 60,000 individuals. The colony consists of a queen, who can live for three to four years, and many of her daughters. In summer, male drones will also emerge from special drone cells, and have the sole purpose of mating with queens. In winter, the hive goes into survival mode: the drones are evicted, the workers huddle together to keep warm, and the larvae are fed on stores of pollen and honey. In spring, a new generation of bees starts to be raised for the summer months. Whether you have a small patio, or a large garden, growing flowering plants is a great way to help Britain's bees. One of the simplest ways to attract bees to visit your garden is by growing flowers rich in pollen and nectar – perennial plants are a good backdrop, but don't ignore flowering annuals, shrubs and trees, too. It is important to grow a range of plants that will provide a continuous flowering period, especially from March to September. You should also be sure to grow plenty of single flowers. Honeybees have a short tongue (proboscis)length, meaning they are limited to certain pollen sources. Double and multi-petalled flowers make the pollen and nectar inaccessible to bees and other pollinators. Here at Lakeside Bee Services our garden apiary is full of flowering plants of all kinds and we strive always to have attractive pollen-bearing plants in as much variety as possible.  Even in winter, there are flowers and plants that will be attract bees. Snowdrops, winter aconites, ivy, crocuses, hellebores, mahonia, winter honeysuckle and clematis are all good early food sources for bees.    Looking ahead to spring, as well as the usual suspects of daffodils and narcissus, consider a flowering cherry, perhaps a crab apple tree or some hawthorn. Just as popular with bees, are bugle, pulmonaria, thrift, alliums and grape hyacinth.   Pollinating insects need food, water and shelter. They love plants which are rich in nectar and pollen. Nectar contains sugar for energy, while pollen contains protein and oils – making sure they receive a balanced diet. Bees provide us with an invaluable service by pollinating the plants we grow. This process is essential because it allows plants to reproduce, and many plants depend on bees or other pollinators to survive. A bee collects nectar and pollen from the flower of a plant, as well as some from the stamens - the male reproductive organ of the plants. When the bee visits the next flower, the pollen is transported onto the stigma, or the tip of the pistil - the female reproductive organ of the flower. This is essential to the process of fertilisation in plants and food crops including fruits.   Many of the plants we consider weeds actually do a great job of supporting wildlife. Lawn clovers and dandelions will attract and provide food for bees. This gives the perfect reason to forget the weeding. Why not leave a corner of the garden completely undisturbed and let nature take its course? If you find a honey bee colony has moved into a part of your property, whether it’s a chimney stack, brick wall or wooden shed, we can help you with safe removal. Our aim wherever possible is to avoid dismantling your home wherever possible and to protect the colony.   Lakeside Bee Services offers a range of products and services to support the preservation of bee populations. Our live bee removal services are designed to safely remove bees from unwelcome locations and bring them back to our country garden apiary, where the colony can thrive.