Then on June 22nd I was going into the small tunnel when I heard bees buzzing! The bees spent all afternoon trying to decide if this would make a good home, but there must have been competition from another suitable vacant hive. As evening came and the large swarm was still hanging in the crab apple tree I decided to put them in the hive Angus has recently built.
Angus took the bait hive down a couple of days later, cleaned out the nest and put a nail across the entrance so the birds won't be able to use it again. I did think that this was a very natural deep floor and probably what a swarm would often find in a suitable tree cavity.