The Barefoot Beeman

19/06/2026

We're a mad breed us beekeepers.. 🥵 ☀️ 🐝

Up a tree 🌳 standing on a ladder with a nuc box on my head collecting a swarm in 30oC temps in a bee suit, wellies and gloves..

No28 the 'longstratton' chimney swarm..

Opposite the long Stratton high school lives a lovely lady with bees in her chimney. She informed me that I last collected a similar sized swarm from her garden exactly one year ago (plus 2 days).

Yesterday the swarm attempted to leave the chimney but the queen didn't fully want to leave, they then heading back into the chimney (we call this a practice swarm). I informed her they will swarm again within the next 24hours and like clockwork today they managed to leave..

On arrival the swarm had moved a bit higher up in the tree so I politely knocked on the next door neighbours door 🚪 and asked did they happen to have a long ladder.. and a 10 foot ladder appeared over the fence. A most kind lend to aid in the relocation of the swarm...

After a couple hours working in the heat the bees all settled to their new home and then got moved off to the clover field to start their work pollinating the fields, gardens and hedgerows of south Norfolk..

As hot 🥵 as it is for the next few days if we can 🐝 of help please feel free to make contact

🦶 🐝

15/06/2026

14/06/2026

We get asked a lot about which one is the queen bee ?!?

Well here's a selection of photos of queens I spotted today as we were looking through a few of the hives..

Why do they all look different ?!

Well they are all genetically very different..

Does the colour or size of the queen make much difference to her abilities.. ?!

No, the queens can all have very different temperaments and laying proficiency but the shape and colour makes no difference...

Can you tell what genetic type or strain she is from her visual characteristics.. ?! (i.e Buckfast, Carnolian, Russian)

No you can't, some people think they can but with the genetic mixture in the queens it's pretty impossible to know...

These girls are truly the powerhouse of life in the honey bee world, she can lay up to 2,000 eggs a day.. Her work ethic and temperament is also passed onto the bees she lays...

The queen can gauge the size of the cell she is laying in, to determine whether or not to use s***m in the egg production. This is how she chooses if she is creating drone or workers..

🐝 Evolution at its best 😊

13/06/2026

A newly hatched queen informing the colony she is about and in charge. (Also challenging any competition to fight)
We call this meeping or piping..

She does this by pressing her thorax against the honeycomb and vibrating her flight muscles with out moving her wings...

12/06/2026

No26. The 'cotman close' Diss swarm..

I got a message from a lovely gent whilst in the middle of cutting grass.. about a swarm he had witnessed land in front of his house.

On my arrival (left my mower in the middle of the field 😝) I was surprised to see a lovely large prime swarm sat at a lovely height..

Into the box and 20mins later taken off the to clover ☘️ fields to start their work and house building.. 🏠

After the past couple weeks of rain and with the temperatures rising I'm expecting the next week or two too produce a few swarms. As ever if I can bee of help please feel free to get in contact..

🦶 🐝

12/06/2026

No25. The 'stowmarket' school swarm..

A little out of the range I normally go to collect swarms but being in the middle of a school playground meant it a priority to rescue and relocate this swarm..

The lovely ladies working at the school had contacted several local beekeepers to be told they will move on.. and they couldn't help..

Well they sat fast in the tree for nearly a whole week throughout the rain showers and storms.. ⛈️

They were most peaceful and happy to bee offered their new home 🏡

08/06/2026

What happens inside the colony in the weeks following a live colony removal and relocation ?!

(In the photos below you will see frames of comb that were removed from a chimney in the live removal and relocation process)

We gently remove the comb from the chimney and then rebuild it into the frames that fit the beehive, this is to transfer the young bees and transfer the resources to the colonies new home.

We then make sure they have adequate food to continue their building.. we supply new wax frames for them to continue working on and building out the colony. (In the view to eventually removing the old comb once it's of no further use and all bees have hatched)

As you can see now that they have successfully secured the comb to the frames themselves. They now decide the elastic bands are of no use and not part of what they want inside the hive for their colony.. (they like removing unwanted objects)

So now they nibble thru the elastic bands and proceed to removed them from the hive.. using what must take some incredible strength they cut the bands and slowly start to pull them out the entrance !!!!

It takes a lot of behind the scenes work and management after the removal from both us and the bees to get the colony's back to full efficiency and as if they had always lived in their new hive... 🐝

04/06/2026

Another day another successful live colony removal and relocation.. 👍 🐝

At a lovely property in Denham, these chimneys were planned to be demolished but due to a good sized colony of honey bees being located once the scaffold was installed the builders were no longer able to proceed.

Well last night we managed to open up the void and comb by comb we were able to remove and rebuild them into their new home. 🏠

The weather was kind enough and we only managed to get caught in one 🌧️ shower.. there was even enough spare honey that the owners got a nice bowl of dark rich bean 🫘 honey.. 🍯

It takes years of knowledge and experience to work out what's going on in the colony during removals, we are always searching for the queen, working out which comb can be removed next and how to preserve the brood as best as possible for rebuilding... you are also required to have special public liability insurance to be able to undertake such work....

Another successful win for the bees.. 🐝

02/06/2026

What do you do when you've got two very large, very active honey bee colonies living on a very busy malting's production factory ?!? 🏭

Well you call in the pros... here at Barefoot Beeman we have nearly 30 years experience with keeping honey bees and nearly a decade of live honey bee colony removal experience..

This was a one of the most incredible locations and jobs we have done in many years, industrial by size and industrial by site..

Two colony's located 12ft apart on the top of the loading bay at Simpsons Maltings. Located some 25-30ft off the ground behind the cladding of the building. These colony's had been residing here for several years but recently became rather swarmy and had vastly out grown their space..
(For the past 4 years I have collected the swarms from these colonies..)

Well over two days myself and Tom started work towards the end of the maltings work day and worked through until past midnight.. successfully removing, rebuilding and relocating these two very large colony's to their new homes in the quiet countryside to carry on there vital roles..

This was a major undertaking, involving some serious team work and skills not to mention the devotion and help from the Simpsons maltings team with one particular gentleman going above and beyond.. (his father used to be a beekeeper, he would bee most proud of his sons efforts). This chap came in to help on both days, even though he wasn't actually working those days.

I must also thank Simpsons maltings (tivetshall) for choosing to go down the best route for the bees, and making the choice to opt for a live removal and relocation... another great win for the bees.. 🐝

01/06/2026

When a colony becomes queen less and they fail to produce another queen the colony also starts to fail.. at this point if we can provide them with a queen they can either accept her or reject her.. This colony immediately realised the incredible gift of her introduction and happily accepted her, she sits there quietly whilst they excitedly come up to see their new monarch. She sat still whilst they groomed her, then she walked between the frame and off to give a life of service to her new colony. She's now happily laying and soon to be marked with her royal 'white' dot...