Honey bees rescued

Honey Bee colony in a Little Owl box

We often find wasps and hornets taking up residence in our owl boxes.

But this month's surprise was to find an active colony of honey bees occupying one of our little owl boxes.

With the help of a local bee-keeper we were able to relocate the colony to a bee-hive where they were provided with enough food to see them through the winter. Honey bees can survive the winter cold, but not a lack of food.

Honey bee populations have been in steady decline for many years due to a combination of threats including changing agricultural practices, neo-nicotinoids, the varroa mite pest, Asian hornets and climate change. So it is good to be able to give them a helping hand.