[Animal]Bee swarm becomes thriving colony in city farm

[GreenBoys]

A swarm of bees found in an east London park has become a "successful" colony at Spitalfields City Farm, a beekeeper said.
Salvatore Scotti, a member of the London Beekeepers' Association, said the honeybees had done "exceptionally well" after he rescued them in April.
Mr Scotti is a volunteer swarm collector and was called by a member of the public to the swarm in Mile End Park.
They were given a home at Spitalfields City Farm after its previous colony did not survive the winter.
Mr Scotti said the latest group had now become a "strong colony" despite the summer's wet weather.
"The colony had a virgin queen," he said.
"So the queen had to go out and meet the boys, and then she came back and she started the process of laying eggs."
Honeybees are not in danger in the UK, and are now "significantly" outnumbering native pollinators, particularly in the City of London, Pollinating London Together said.
A spokesperson for the organisation said the results from its pollinator count on 1 July showed that "wet conditions" for so much of the summer season had a "noticeable effect" on pollinator numbers.
Mr Scotti said despite this weather, the Spitalfields honeybee colony had "thrived".
"It's been a very strange season," he said. "It started very late. When you have wet weather, you don't have pollen around.
"Somehow this colony has done very well."
He added that while new colonies normally "never have enough honey to harvest the first year", this one did.
Bees rely on the honey they have created as food for the winter months, so only the excess is harvested, with a generous amount left for the colony, Mr Scotti said.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn02yw2zx9lo