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LIFESTYLE

SPRING MARKS THE A swarming cluster huddle

stogether on a tree branch. In
START OF THE HONEY the middle of the cluster you
can spot the blurry image of
a scout bee doing a ‘waggle
BEE SWARMING dance’ on the back of her sisters
to communicate the location of a
SEASON new home or food source.

By Natasha Lyon

warming occurs when a large group honey bees by saying NO to harmful
of honey bees leaves an established pesticides. Instead, explore companion
Scolony and flies off to form another planting to manage garden pests.
colony, essentially creating two colonies Prune trees and shrubs after flowering
from one. In doing so they ‘give birth’ to a and continue to plant for bees. As the
new colony. temperatures warms, our honey bees start
to swarm and by understanding how and
Silver Lakes boasts a wonderful selection why bees swarm, our community can play
of bird and wildlife, making it a unique an important role in their protection. With
and special estate. Wide open spaces and the world’s growing population, we simply
established private gardens continue to cannot sustain our food resources without
attract a rich diversity of birds, butterflies the crucial work of pollinators, of which
and indeed honey bees. The variety of honey bees are the most important.
plants and trees on the estate is a great
source of pollen and nectar for our honey FINDING A NEW HOME
bees. These little creatures can fly up to a 5km
radius from their colony - sometimes even
Sadly, honey bees are in sharp decline further - in search of pollen, nectar or a
throughout the world. You can help our new home. It’s the scout bees that set off in

16 INTRA MUROS SEPTEMBER 2020