After two days the swarm was still in the hedge although about 1/6th of it's original numbers. They must have got fed up of being manhandled and gone off to some quieter spot! Head gardner Jessica was by this time having trouble defending our corner with the rest of the community who were rightly worried that someone could get stung. Thankfully their trust in us to find a solution held and early on Wednesday morning I put 'plan P' into action, which had sprung to mind during a sleepless night.
I had decided to put a very sexy box which the kettle for our walling courses came in over the swarm and then pray that the little lovelies would crawl up into it. Later that evening after meeting Alice and Felix we went to see what had happened. All was quiet - no buzzing! They had moved into the kettle box. What was wrong with alternate choice of the a spacious brood box place in front of the swarm is beyond me! Anyway, all's well that ends well.
Alice was very brave throughout this 'crisis'. While Felix watched the snooker championship in Sheffield, Alice had 6,000 angry bees buzzing about her person! She has been a big help to me. Thanks also to Ivor, master bee keeper, for listening and throwing ideas my way; to Jessica for her arbitratory skills; Felix for watching the snooker; Alice for her invaluable help and the good folk of the Pennine Community for keeping faith.
My superstar bee keepers - Alice from New York, USA and Felix from Heidelberg, Germany
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