Our first swarm of spring

Kairos bees Easter swarm-1
The swarm comes to rest on a fence post…
Kairos Community Bees swarm at Easter
… a besuited Kairos beekeeper gently brushes them towards the swarm box…
Kairos bees Easter swarm-3
… and the stragglers finally head for the box.

Still in the transition from winter to spring, we were caught off guard by our first swarm of the season over the Easter holiday, writes Grace Madden, the Kairos beekeeper.

Our expert volunteer, Mick, wasn’t around, so that left the recovery of the bees to some of our eager trainee beekeepers, who jumped at the chance to catch the swarm.

Luckily the weather turned to wind and rain, which meant the bees probably wouldn’t risk moving from their temporary pit-stop position just yet. This gave the volunteers precious time to get their gear and work out a strategy.

Within 10 minutes, the queen was identified and promptly secured in a warm dry swarm box. After some coaxing, the worker bees followed suit a few hours later. The box was then taken to a new Kairos garden apiary.

Due to the swift action of our heroic volunteers and with plenty of food and sunshine our rescued colony should now thrive in their new setting. Thank you to all involved, there will bee honey all round!