Bees at Greylands
Bees set up a hive in a hole in the weatherboards at the Greylands homestead in 2022
On 25th September 2022 a swarm of European Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera) formed over a hole in the weatherboards of the laundry section of the Greylands homestead. By evening of that day, the bees had all moved inside the hole and started to form a hive between the outside weatherboards and the inside panelling. Ever since, we have seen bees coming and going out the hole in the weatherboards. In Summer or on warmer days, you can smell the honey. With a stethoscope listening to the wall from inside you can hear the bees buzzing between the inside and outside boards.
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/invasive-species/insects-and-other-invertebrates/invasive-bees
Below is a photo of the initial swarm on the day they first appeared.
The video below is of the day the bees arrived: 25th September 2022
Above: the bees coming and going from outside to their hive between the boards since they moved in, in 2022 and when activity abruptly reduced (August 2025).
Above: at the end of August 2024 a new swarm of bees moved into the laundry. These bees had to be removed, but we left the other bees as they were, coming and going from the outside hole in the weatherboards.
Above: as of August 2025, we noticed the bee activity abruptly seemed to diminish. There now seem to be hardly any bees coming and going. So we had a look up the ladder and saw honeycomb now obscuring the entrance through the weatherboards. It remains to be seen whether or not the bees have formed a new hive in a new location. If so we'll likely take the opportunity to seal up the entrance. It's been a fascinating process over three years observing their activity. Given several of us have been stung we're assuming they are European bees (as opposed to Australian bush bees which don't sting).