LOOK WHO HAS BEEN ‘MIS-BEE-HIVING’ IN SIDCUP

A protected swarm of bees has taken up residence in Sidcup and most worryingly for the site QESH team had not signed in! Precariously perched at the Service area on the exterior of the red-brickwork, on-site conservationists realised this was beyond the remit of our contract team and enlisted the support of a registered charity who specialise in the relocation of bee colonies to come on-site and collect the swarm and commence the relocation. The charities mission is to reverse the decline of native bee species and is promoting Queen rearing and colony expansion.

QESH Queen Bee, the irreplaceable Jane Marchant was on hand to oversee the removal, as she bellowed instructions to bee-suit cladded Engineering Manager Mark Hodgkins, Jane commented “We were getting reports that a swarm of bees were clinging to the edge of the brickwork and generating a wax, they seemed to have originated from around the services area. As a protected species it was time to call the experts, although Ian Malcomber said he knew somebody who knew somebody! Great thing is that the bees will be placed in a hive and maintained - checked for disease or mites – then in the future will look to breed new colonies from the queen to increase the population of bees.”

Sidcup Lady Bee, Tanya Harris, overseer of our Pest Awareness programme was delighted to comment that we are delighted to be involved in the relocation of the colony as, “Introducing bee colonies makes a valuable contribution to protecting the species and is a clear step forwards in preserving biodiversity”, says Karen. By carrying pollen from flower to flower, they pollinate a large proportion of agricultural crops. Lady Bee continued: “80 per cent of domestic plant species are dependent on insects for pollination.” Environmental influences, such as residue from agricultural pesticides, bacteria, viruses and parasites, have been contributing to the decline in bee numbers for decades. What’s more, the bees’ habitat is continuing to disappear.

Did you know that around 46% of the honey sold in the UK is actually a blend of Corn Syrup and Sugar – watch out for those blends on the pack.

With the colony now in the expert hands of the Beekeeper and no sign of Queen Bee Jane anywhere, suffice to say the on-site QESH team were buzzing and took advantage of an early start to their weekend.?