Last week we had a swarm of honey bees near the car park, and called up the Stansted beekeeper, John Geden to come and rescue them.
A swarm forms when a bee colony grows too large for the hive. The existing queen bee moves out, taking half the colony with her and leaving a new queen in place with the remaining bees. Have a look at the video on Facebook
This swarm had followed the queen to a small sapling beside the car park which promptly bent over double under the weight of the huge swarm. John was able (with bare hands) to cut the sapling and knock the queen and the majority of the swarm into a nucleus bee box. Any bees that were still outside the box soon made their way into the box following the strong pheromones of the queen. John then set up a new hive at Stansted to bring the total up to 14.
Situated over a wildflower meadow, under some glorious lime trees, the bees forage on a wide variety of wildflowers, sweet chestnut, and blackberry, and with a range of 3 miles, are also within flying distance of Lordington’s Lavender.
Local honey is great for combating hayfever, and you can use it as an ingredient in most of your cooking. Here’s a great salad recipe using honey as a dressing.
You can purchase this delicious, raw Stansted honey in the shop or online.
