It's a bit like Elizabeth; it's always on the move! This year it had changed location again and was being held in the Avenue Pasteur and around the statue of the man himself... It has never been in the same place twice since we have been here BUT at least the items for sale had not changed much!
We found a couple of comfortable bike seats for Peter...
And when we were leaving we came upon a man with a stick and a small bag, hugging a tree...
What was he up to? He was trying to collect a swarm of bees.
After some discussion it was obvious he needed a bigger container so Elizabeth trotted off back to the Brocante in search of a box... Two eventually turned up and, whilst the man prepared the box, I held onto his stick!!!
We couldn't be sure whether he got the queen, but the bees certainly had an appropriately labelled large box into which they were flying...
However not long after that, the remaining bees swarmed from the tree...
We will probably never know the outcome as the man was just passing through on holiday. He had recently lost the queen from one of his hives and was prepared to make the 70km trip back home if he had secured the queen....
We bid him 'bonne chance' and left him watching the bees...
You just never know what you'll find at your average Brocante!
What good Samaritans! What a pity you'll never know the outcome! P.
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ReplyDeleteI saw a couple of fully kitted up beekeepers collecting a swarm from very near there a couple of months ago. I wonder if there is a really big colony there and nobody has succeeded in getting the queen? Or maybe that tree just has the right conditions to attract a swarm.
ReplyDeleteBrave Colin, holding the bees at bay with a stick! I bet Peter was glad he missed that swarm!
ReplyDeleteNorma It's typical of what we get up to and there are many bee hives in the woods where we walk. Bees are not a problem to us.
ReplyDeleteYou are BOTH welcome anytime, it's a pity you could not have come over with Peter this time.