Bees in the Belfry

Whether or not there are bats in the belfry there are definitely bees.  If you look up the walls of the church tower on a warm day you will see them going in and out of holes in the stonework.  For as long as anyone can remember there have been three colonies in the tower.  These are not masonry bees as you might expect but the typical honeybees that normally live in hives.  In June they often outgrow their stone cavities and some of them decide to swarm.  The bees will fly around in a cloud and then temporarily settle in a cluster somewhere in the churchyard before finding a permanent new home.   Once they swarmed just days before the churchyard was buzzing with the first Ale House festival, something we hadn’t considered in the risk assessment.

“Bees are fussy and unpredictable creatures”

As luck would have it the bees swarmed this year when Leslie Hitchen (Ale House Manager and Beekeeper) was watering the flowers outside the Ale House.  They settled on a handy gravestone, so she rushed off to get her swarm-catching equipment and soon had them scooped up inside a box.  Leslie would have happily housed the bees herself, but she knew that Kev Alviti, a close neighbour of the church, had been attending the Malvern and Upton beginners’ beekeeping course.  Leslie knew how exciting it is to get your first swarm, so she went to see if he was ready.  He was, almost.  With his superior woodworking skills Kev had built his hive within an hour and together they housed the swarm in their new home.

Bees are fussy and unpredictable creatures, and these showed their appreciation by moving on two days later. Fortunately, there have been other swarms to catch and Kev’s career as a beekeeper is now underway. 

You can follow Kev’s activities as a homesteader, woodworker (and now beekeeper) at www.englishhomestead.com. 

A group of enthusiasts meet regularly to maintain and improve the churchyard for people and nature and big improvements have been made over the last couple of years.  It is rewarding work, and you would be very welcome to join us.   Work parties start at 9:30 and finish around 12 noon.  The next dates are:

Saturday August 3rd

Saturday September 14th

Saturday October 5th