16 Apr Home Sweet Home: Welcoming Honeybees to Warfield Park 🐝🌸

As part of our David Bellamy Blooming Marvellous Pledge for Nature, we at Warfield Park have proudly taken on the ‘Home Sweet Home’ challenge – creating artificial wildlife homes to give nature the very best chance to thrive.

One of our newest and most exciting projects is for the bees! We’ve created a dedicated space within the park to house four beehives, all built by our talented grounds team. Once established, these hives will be cared for in partnership with experienced beekeepers, ensuring the colonies remain healthy and well looked after.

A wonderful surprise!

Last week, Jenna discovered a swarm of honeybees resting on a rhododendron hedge near the Wellingtonia tree carving. Photos and videos were quickly shared with our beekeepers, who arrived promptly and safely collected the swarm into a nuc (a small temporary hive).

The nuc was briefly left on site to allow any remaining scout bees to rejoin their colony before being carefully moved to our new apiary here at Warfield Park. Soon, the bees will be settled into a full hive and left to flourish.

Then came another surprise… just two days later, a resident living close to the original location contacted us to report another swarm! Once again, beekeeper Mark stepped in and safely captured the bees.

It’s incredible to think that we now have two honeybee colonies originating from Warfield Park itself, both thriving right here in our apiary.

What to do if you spot a swarm

If you live on the park and notice a swarm of honeybees, please contact the office. We’ll arrange for our beekeepers to safely collect them – protecting both residents and bees.

Did you know? 🍯

• Honey doesn’t appear straight away!
• In early spring, colonies focus on building wax comb, raising young bees, and storing food.
• From late spring into early summer, bees begin collecting nectar as flowers bloom.
• It takes nectar from millions of flowers to produce just 1 kg of honey.
• New colonies can take up to 2 years before producing a good harvest.

We’re incredibly proud to see these bees choosing Warfield Park as their home and can’t wait to watch them flourish as part of our ongoing commitment to nature.

A huge thank you to our residents, grounds team, and beekeepers for helping make Warfield Park a true haven for wildlife. 💚

#BloomingMarvellous #PledgeForNature #WarfieldPark #Nature2026 #SaveTheBees #WildlifeHaven #Sustainability #CommunityNature #BeeFriendly
#ProtectPollinators