"A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon."
This swarm was on an old damson tree in a garden where I was working.
Unusually, they stayed in the tree for most of the day.
The old farm house has a wild honey bee colony under the roof.
I was a Beekeeper many years ago, the original hives came from my grandfather.
Whilst a swarm of bees flying through the air can be a noisy and frighting sight to experience, swarming bees fill up with honey before they leave the hive and are not usually aggressive (they have no home to defend).
This old saying relates to the amount of honey that could be produced by a swarm of honey bees collected and re-homed in another hive.
A swarm in May is worth a load of hay;
A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon;
A swarm in July is not worth a fly.
Please visit Gardening Jules Here for more information about bees and other pollinators.
