It must be this sudden burst of Bank Holiday sunny weather. Two things have happened. I've been sneezing and rubbing my eyes because of all the pollen floating around in the atmosphere. It's really quite uncomforatable and my eyes are continuously sore. Sun glasses help but only a little.
Then yesterday afternoon when temperatures were at their highest I heard a loud humming outside the kitchen window. I looked out to see a swarm of bees outside the window and when I went to investigate further I found they were buzzing in and out of a ventilation brick beside the back door. I assume the queen must have decided the vent would make a good new home and led her drones and workers with her.
Trouble was there wasn't enough room in the wall for the whole swarm and before I could stop them thousands (well, OK, hundreds) had invaded the kitchen. Fortunately most stayed at one end of the room by the window enabling me to get to the phone and ring our pest controller. He was fishing for cod ten miles off Southwold when he answered his mobile but assured me he would be here to deal with the problem as soon as he came ashore.
A few hours later he arrived by which time most of the bees had gone to bed with their queen and sadly a lot more had died as they tried to find their way out of the kitchen. Sadder still, because I like bees and what they do for us, the only way for our pest man to deal with the swarm was to kill them in the wall.
The problem is now over and there are no more insects in the house. But at a time when bees are dieing from foul brood disease and numbers are also being depleted by other mysterious problems I regretted what we had to do. But you can't live in the same space as a swarm of bees - unless, of course, your'e another bee.