TransLogistics

Transport and Logistics Network

Operation to remove 30000 bees from Chester uni campus

A hive containing as many as 30,000 bees was removed from the University of Chester[1] last week. The bees had taken up residence inside the trunk of a tree outside the Hollybank building off Liverpool Road.

Bees were caught on camera buzzing at openings in the tree trunk, and footage from a thermal imaging camera showed the trunk was full of bees. The bees were transported within the tree trunk to an apiary in Winsford[2] on Friday (October 13).

Chris Bowyer of Honey Bee Removal & Relocation U.K. sealed the tree up with wire mesh before the tree was felled and transported via lorry to his Winsford apiary. He said: “This time of year, now, there were probably about twenty-five to thirty thousand [bees in the hive].”

READ: Chester funeral set for schoolgirl killed in M53 bus crash tragedy[3] | Jessica Baker’s family thanked public for support since crash that took talented youngster’s life

READ: Chester Zoo slams Joanna Lumley over ‘free the elephants’ call[4] | Dame Joanna Lumley is calling for keeping elephants in zoos to be phased out

Chris says ” everything went very smooth” during the job, but he has seen these things go wrong before. He said: “ I’ve done them before where the tree surgeons have started cutting, not told me, and their chainsaw has gone through very easy and ended up going into the chamber.

“And then the guys have picked the log up at the top with a cherry picker with a grabber on it, they’ve jolted it, and all the bees have come flowing out of the bottom and covered his face. He was dancing on top of his garage roof.”


Bees swarm the entrance to their hive in a tree on the University campus

Thankfully, Chris sealed up the tree before it was felled. However, he was stung once the hive was brought to his apiary.

“I took a sting but that should have been expected as I think they may have been a little travel sick and upset,” he said. Chris says he has “no idea” how big the hive could be.

“I’m leaving it now because the weather is too cold. Normally I would cut it out,” he said. “I would open the tree up with a chainsaw and cut it out, put it into wooden frames and then put it into a proper hive, but, with the temperature being so low now, I’m leaving it until next spring. I’ll cut it open next spring and then we’ll have a look at it.


Chris Bowyer opens the hive at his apiary near Winsford

Chris added: “They have to be 15°C or above because you can damage the larvae and the eggs and the brood that is in there.”

Chris called in a favour to get the colony, inside a huge tree trunk, back to Winsford. “It’s at one of my apiaries now,” he said. “I was struggling a bit because I didn’t know how heavy it would be or if I could get it into the back of a van.


The trunk at the University of Chester before it was transported

“I’ve rang a friend who works at Huws Gray … They came and grabbed it and transported it back to Winsford for me.”

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References

  1. ^ University of Chester (www.cheshire-live.co.uk)
  2. ^ Winsford (www.cheshire-live.co.uk)
  3. ^ Chester funeral set for schoolgirl killed in M53 bus crash tragedy (www.cheshire-live.co.uk)
  4. ^ Chester Zoo slams Joanna Lumley over ‘free the elephants’ call (www.cheshire-live.co.uk)
  5. ^ Sign up for CheshireLive email direct to your inbox here (www.cheshire-live.co.uk)

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