for The Inevitable to Happen

There was I thinking that the bee keeping season was getting on nicely and one was able to adopt a more relaxed attitude to preventing swarms.

We should of course have carried out a few more weekly inspections.  

Naturally the bees took the opportunity to swarm on Thursday.  Having housed the bees overnight in a temporary home called a skep,  it is now necessary to introduce them to their new home.  

Here you see part of a large swarm running uphill on a board into their new hive entrance at the top of the picture.

Notice also how the bees are all facing the same direction.  That is because the bees at the top of the picture have exposed a scent gland called a Nasenov  gland at the tip of their abdomen. If you look very carefully you can see a tiny light coloured gap at the tip of their abdomen.  They then blow the scent by fanning their wings thereby telling the remainder of the bees outside, which way to go.

Clever aren't they?