A SWARM of bees has been rescued from a tree beside St James Church in the middle of Okehampton by local beekeepers ­during a heavy downpour.

Rebecca Green, who runs The Allotment Club café, saw the swarm in the tree on Tuesday afternoon last week (June 16), and put out an appeal for any beekeepers who could help.

Her call was answered by beekeeeper Matt Hill who has an apiary with his partner Ashley Swain on their farm at Beaworthy.

Ashley said Matt had borrowed a ladder from one of the local shopkeepers to rescue the swarm in a late afternoon deluge which he then brought back to a new hive at their apiary.

‘It is a bit unusual for bees to be swarming when it is so stormy but I think the humidity we have had probably prompted a few to go and they were avoiding the weather when Matt picked them out of the tree,’ she said. ‘They were absolutely drenched, poor little things but the sun was out to welcome them back to the farm.’

The bees are now settling in to their new ‘nuc’ — bee home — among the other hives at the Secret Garden Apiary.

‘We have checked in on them today and they are going in and out of their nuc,’ said Ashley on Wednesday last week (June 17).

She said she and Matt were often called out to deal with swarms, and she urged anyone spotting one to contact them or another beekeeper on the British Beekeepers Association swarm relocation register (see www.bbka.org.uk/swarm).

She said: ‘Rebecca who called us out said she phoned straight away because she had heard previous advice that swarms should be destroyed which is shocking! I also saw a post on the Okehampton news board which showed another swarm, I think from last year, which had been coated in chemicals and left to die in Okehampton, which made me very sad. Why spend the money on toxic chemicals or calling out an exterminator if we can come straight out and remove the bees safely for free?’

She said there was no need to be afraid of the bees — but nonetheless cautioned people not to attempt to gather in the swam themselves, as beekeepers such as themselves would always wear protective equipment to handle the swarm. See www.secretgardenapiary.co.uk