Bees on the Move

Residents in Bailis Downs Estate got a rare sighting of Honey Bees on the move when a queen took her drones house hunting. Mid May to Mid July is the peak season for swarms to appear and because we have enjoyed such good weather we're more likely to be outdoors to spot them.

Swarm of Honey Bees in Bailis Downs.

Viewed from a safe distance these bees were noticeable calm, content and quiet since they were full of honey in preparation for their journey.

If you spot a swarm of any bees contact irishbeekeeping.ie to have them notify a local bee keeper to collect them quickly and safely. This particular hive queen was relocacted within a few hours and all Irish Bees are very unlikely to harm you provided you don't threaten them.

The best advice is always to keep your distance from any swarm.

Have You Got Bees in Your Garden?

If your gardens has Purple, Violet and Blue flowers then it's very likely that you're a magnet to Bees since it's their favourite colours. The humble dandelion and the majestic sunflower will also attract them.

You might be surprised to know we have 98 Species of wild Bees in Ireland with 1 species of Honey Bee, x20 Bumble Bees and x77 Solitary Bee varieties. You might also be surprised to learn that their nest is likely to be close by:

Honey Bee usually travel within 5km but are able to go more than twice that distance.
Bumble Bee can travel up to 5km but commonly forage within 1-2km of their nest.
Solitary Bee can travel up to 1km but commonly forage within 100-200m of their nest

As you can imagine the Bubble Bee and Solitary Bees are much larger than the Honey Bee so they stay much closer to home.

5km Radius

The Google Map developed for us to remain close to home during the Health Emergency is a useful guide to see where your daily visitors might be coming from.

Some Interesting Facts

It is a myth that bees can only sting once. Only the Honey Bee has a barbed sting meaning that once caught in the skin it will die but it might take a few attempts so it's not worth the pain finding out.

Bees are passive and friendly but Wasps are just plain angry and aggressive.

Only the Females can sting with Venom so both the male Wasp and male Bee are fairly helpless and can only pretend. They can call on their females for help so don't push your luck finding out!

Wasps and Bees may appear similar but the Bee is Vegetarian and the Wasp is a carnivorous predditor.

Their venom is also different with the wasp being alkaline so treat with vinegar, the Bee sting is acidic so treat with Milk. It's much easier to use ice for immediate relief and swelling reduction. And you might not know what stung you!

Less than 5 percent of all bee species make honey, and it's the Honey Bee that makes the most. Bumble bees are annual, not perennial, so they don’t need to produce a lot of honey to survive the winter.

Despite children's books always illustrating bee hives only 10 percent of bee species are social, and only a small percentage of them build hives. Most bees are solitary, living in individual nests tunneled in the soil or in tree trunks.