'Massive increase' in bee swarm rescues

These bees made their hive in the boxing of a conservatory about a year ago

A Devon chimney sweep who expanded his business to include rehoming bee swarms five years ago said 2025 had been his busiest year so far.

Dan Fisher, who runs Ashburton Chimney Sweep, said his team had dealt with a hive every day for the last month.

Dr Thomas O'Shea-Wheller, biologist at the University of Exeter, said this was normal swarming season, but an early spate of warm weather could have made them very active.

Mr Fisher said he and his team had "seen a massive increase" in the number of swarms collected already this season.

The pieces of honeycomb from the original hive go with the bees to give them the best chance to establish in their new home.

Once the bees are rescued, often from chimneys, they go to live with beekeeper Mark Norman, near Scorriton, on the eastern edge of Dartmoor.

He has set up seven hives from rescued swarms in the last few weeks.

Mr Norman said: "It's really, really busy, both swarms and people with bees in chimneys calling us in to help".

"There is a massive drop in the amount of bees and insects all over the world, so anything we can do to preserve a colony of bees is fantastic", he added.

Dr O'Shea-Wheller said the reason bees swarmed was to reproduce.

He said: "So their colonies are splitting, and the new colony will form a swarm and try to find a new home, and often, chimneys are a really good place to do that."