This time of year here everything happens at once, especially with Nature, and there never seems to be a day when Life carries on in a hum-drum fashion. Yesterday was a case in point when a swarm of bees decided that the Quinta was the place for them and settled in a tree outside the back door prior to descending on the roof and crawling inside. It was a big swarm too and a pity that we can’t use it and give them a proper home in one of our hives. They settled too high up in the tree to get at them safely and crossed over to the house so quick that we hadn’t time to prepare to catch them before they’d got inside.
It might interest you to know that at this time, when they’re swarming and seem to be in such frightening numbers, they’re relatively harmless and one can pick them up, (carefully!), with one’s bare hands, but within a few hours, the time it takes them to gather their first nectar, they revert to being their cantankerous selves again and defend their home and food supply the same as ever.
Well, we’ll leave them there for a bit as they’re doing no harm at the moment, but I’m afraid they’ll have to go by next winter when we want to take the roof off for some maintenance …..
