28/05/21 A passer-by stops to photograph the swarm. It was time to find a new home-sweet-home for a swarm of bees who settled on railings underneat

---

28/05/21 A passer-by stops to photograph the swarm. It was time to find a new home-sweet-home for a swarm of bees who settled on railings underneath the Millennium Clock in the centre of Ashbourne, Derbyshire. Honey bee swarms are a natural method for a colony to reproduce. When a colony is big enough, the workers begin to produce a number of queens by feeding larvae royal jelly. The current queen is too heavy to fly so the workers will stop feeding her in anticipation of a swarm. When she is light enough to fly, the queen will leave the hive with some of the workers and they will cluster in place while scout bees find a suitable location. It is relatively easy for a competent beekeeper to capture a swarm in a suitable box, or nuc. Meanwhile, the first queen larvae to emerge in the original colony will ensure her rule by removing the other developing larvae or even fighting to the death with other emerged queens. All Rights Reserved: F Stop Press Ltd. +44 (0)7765 242650

---

Size: 5472px × 3648px
Photo credit: © Rod Kirkpatrick / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ashbourne, bee, bees, fsp, hive, honey, kirkpatrick, photography, press, rkp, rod, stop, swarm