SURREY BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION Founded 1879
Croydon	Epsom	Farnham	Guildford	Horsham& C	Kingston	Reigate	Weybridge	Wimbledon

Discovering Bees and Wasps

If you suspect you have a swarm or colony of bees in your house or garden go to our swarms page

Bumblebees. These nest usually low to the ground, under sheds, pavement slabs and in compost heaps and are small in number (up to 150 bees). They are usually furry round creatures, often with white, yellow, or orange markings. They are slow flying and generally harmless. They appear from spring until autumn. The colonies will not survive the autumn weather. Many species of bumblebee are endangered and it is very important the colonies are conserved. It is possible, but extremely difficult, for an expert to move a bumblebee colony.

Solitary bees. These are also small and slightly furry, and will nest usually in single holes in the ground or small holes in brickwork. These holes will usually be used by individual bees, but many holes may be grouped near each other in a lawn, or wall. So-called solitary bees can be gregarious! They are normally seen late spring, early summer, and like bumblebees, are short-lived. It’s impossible to remove solitary bees.

Wasps. These are the most common pest. They appear in early summer but are often not noticed until August, when the approaching winter makes their quest for food increasingly desperate. They are yellow with 3-4 black stripes across their back. They will fly around the house, try and join your BBQ in the garden, eat your sandwiches and cream cakes, and drink your beer or coke. The nest is round, papery and football sized, and will contain up to 1000 wasps. Although unpleasant, they are one of nature’s pest controllers. If they are a nuisance the nest can be killed although few beekeepers have the equipment to use the control substances safely. Pest control companies will remove nests, details on our swarms page. Wasps too, as winter’s frosts eliminates their food sources, will die of natural causes late in the year.

Hornets. Similar to wasps, but bigger, and not so common.
This one was about the size of a two pence coin.
The nest was in an old stables and measured about 12in by 18in.

Pictures: Andrew McManus © 2005 taken in Sunningdale.

Honeybees. These are usually slim insects, black with yellow, grey or cream coloured bands. They could be in a swarm flying around, a swarm that has landed in a tree or bush or wall, or a colony that has taken up residence in a chimney, wall cavity, empty box or so on. Any of the above can contain thousands or even tens of thousands of bees. Unlike bumblebees they very rarely cluster or nest on the ground. Swarming is a natural reproductive instinct for honeybees and it’s how they perpetuate and protect the species from extinction. Although they may look daunting and frightening swarming bees are usually not dangerous. A swarm will usually go away within a day or so unless captured (and therefore become someone else's problem!), but they can easily be gathered by a beekeeper. Once they have established a home they become much more difficult to collect. It is important that honeybee colonies are not destroyed. Pest controllers will seldom deal with honeybees and it is best that a local beekeeper is always consulted once honeybees are found.
                                                    Photo by David Reygate(Hon. Secretary SBKA)

The common or western Honeybee - Apis Mellifera is perhaps the insect best known to man. It occurs naturally in Africa, the Middle East and Europe and has been introduced into many other parts of the world where Beekeepers maintain populations in artificial nests called hives. In the wild the common honeybee nest in dry caves or hollow trees. They are social insects and live in colonies. Each colony is a family unit comprising of a single egg laying female - The Queen and her many sterile daughters called Workers. Males - Drones are reared only at the time of the year when their presence is required for mating purposes e.g. May June and July. From January if it is mild the Queen will start to lay and at her peak will lay some 500 - 1000 eggs per day.

Gestation Periods

	Egg	Open Brood	Sealed Brood	Total
Queen	3	5	7	15
Worker	3	6	12	21
Drone	3	7	14	24

In June, July and August a Honeybee colony may contain 40000 - 80000 worker bees
Queen Maturity
Maturity 5 - 10 Days
Egg Laying after mating 2 - 3 Days

Being a large work force the colony needs to be quite organised and the allocation of tasks are age related as shown in the table.

Duties of Worker Bees of different Ages
Age of Worker - Duty
0 - 4 days Cell cleaning and incubation
3 - 12 days Feeding Larvae
About the 4th day Stinging power developed
Between 6 & 10 day First nursery flight around midday
6 - 15th day Wax making and comb building
8 - 16th day Reception and storage of Nectar, packing of
Pollen in the cells.
14 - 18th day Entrance guard and debris clearance
19th day Begins to pay attention to Bee dances
18 - 30/35th day Foraging for Honey and Pollen
25 - 30/35th day Collecting Propolis

The main reason for this division lies in the physiological state of the bee and is responsible for this allocation, especially the activity of certain glands.
1 - The abdominal wax glands
2 - Glands in the head which secrete Royal Jelly - sometimes called Bee Milk. It consists of two liquids, one is colourless while the other is white and a little thicker in consistency. Larvae destined to become Queens are fed equal parts of Royal Jelly, whereas a worker will receive a weaker feed.
As the colony becomes large the workers make provision to divide by producing swarms. The workers will rear a new queen and when she emerges the old queen, together with substantial number of workers, will leave the hive and settle a short distance from the hive. Scout bees look for a suitable place for the swarm to set up a new nest. On returning each bee dances to communicate the location of likely sites. The swarm will take off again and move to the new site. Normally this occurs around midday and the swarm will be settled by late afternoon.

Life in the Hive
Bees are able to control the temperature and humidity very accurately. They take special care to control the temperature of the air around the brood. The young larvae develop faster at 35deg C and would die at temperatures below 32deg or above 36deg C. They raise the temperature with their own body heat. High temperatures can have disastrous effects on wax as it melts at 63 - 65deg C, but before it reaches this temperatures it becomes too soft to support the weight of honey that is stored.
Bees have two methods of reducing the temperature in a hive: -
1- They stand at the hive entrance and fan their wings to draw in cooler air.
2 - Or they gather water and spread it over the comb.

Food resources
Worker bees usually begin foraging after working in the hive for a few weeks. They do not leave the hive to look for food at random, they are given instructions by scout bees. This is communicated in the form of Bee Dances. The information conveyed is not only the distance of the forage from the hive and the direction of the food source but also its quality.

Honey Plants
Various food sources can be divided: -
a)Time of flow - Early flow, Summer flow, and late flow.
b)Type of flow, Pollen, Nectar, or Honeydew.
The early flow is from April - June. Early bulbs, Willows provide pollen. Fruit trees, Dandelions and Oil Seed Rape(OSR) give nectar as well.

Summer flow starts in July and can be finished before the end of this month dependant upon the weather. White clover is being sown again and provides good forage. Spruces, Horse Chestnut, Lime trees Alder, Brambles, Wild Sage provide welcome sources of forage.

The late flow can provide a rich source of pollen from flowering plants such as Yellow Mustard, Silver Firs, Spruces and Ling also have a late Honey flow.
Main Pollen yielding plants are:-
a)Rosacea - Pomaceous fruits and berries
b)Crucifer - Oil seed rape, Mustard, Brassicas
c)Compositae - Dandelions, Sunflowers, Cornflowers, Thistles, and Asters.

Suggested Reference Material
1 - Beekeeping - A seasonal guide by Ron Brown
2 - Teach yourself Beekeeping by Frank Vernon
3 - Beekeepers Garden by Ted Hooper and Mike Taylor

swarms page