COUNTRY LIFE
THE old rhyme says that a swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon. We were blessed with three silver spoons, all from adjoining properties. Had the swarms come in May they would have been " worth a load of hay " but unfortunately they did not and now we are in July when a swarm is worth no more than a butterfly. We are not anxious to cope with more swarms, although we may have to, for it has turned out that neither of our original two colonies has swarmed and one, the larger and more virile of the two, is due to do so. We have five colonies in all now and owe three to the fact that their former owners failed to prevent them taking flight. 1 read the other day that the law about ownership of bees insists that the swarm can only be claimed by an owner who keeps them in sight and hearing and he can only recover them with the permission of the occupier of the land on which they settle. Presumably, without such permission, he can do nothing. No one came to claim the bees that descended upon us. Without much experience in the business of taking swarms, we might have welcomed any claimant, but all the beei are safely hived and are working now. We have gained experience and established ownership.
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