A swarm of bees that was found on the side of a road has been recovered by a hobby beekeeper who took them back to his house.

After being notified of a large bee swarm gathered on the kerbside on Wednesday evening, Marc Knight, a hobby beekeeper from Bicester, arrived at the scene with a plastic box to collect what he called “the biggest swarm I have seen this year.”

The farm worker said the swarm may have left its hive for several reasons, one being that they simply ran out of room and needed a new space.

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Mr Knight said: “There were thousands of them. One stung me as soon as I tried to move them into the box.

“I put the box down and lifted the lid off. There was a little ball of bees, so I picked that up first hoping the queen was in there.

“If you move the queen the rest will follow, but unfortunately I couldn’t see the queen because it was getting dark.

“After a while I stood back and let the bees enter the box themselves.

“It’s always important to remove swarms like this because otherwise they could end up in people’s chimneys and roofs.

“Then pest control is called, and the bees end up being killed.”

Mr Knight took the now boxed-up swarm back to his house and transferred it to a larger box in his garden.

He left the front of the box open to give the bees plenty of room to move around, and when he returned the following day, they had all flown away.

Mr Knight began beekeeping as a hobby in summertime last year, after a beekeeper friend gave him a box and some information on how to get started.

Since then, he has accumulated two box-hives in his garden, which he says will begin producing honey in August this year.

He said: “I’ve collected six swarms so far. I’ve largely taught myself how to do the beekeeping side of things, though I had a few friends help me too.

“It takes about a year to get a hive established properly, because worker bees only live for 4-6 weeks.

“It takes a while for breeding to accumulate and a strong colony to form.

“I haven’t produced any honey yet. I decided to leave the spring harvest in the hives.

“I’ve just brought new honey frames though, so I’m set to have a good harvest in August. Which I will give to my family and friends.

“Next year I will think about selling the honey, I’ll see how it goes.”

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1

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