Honey bees are adorable. They’re flying, striped pom-poms that hang out on flowers; I mean, how can you not love them? With that being said, I can still understand peoples’ aversion to them— nobody likes getting stung.
In recent years, the importance of the honey bee has continually been thrust upon us. According to Mother Nature Network, honey bees pollinate 8 out of 10 flowering crops, essentially giving us 1/3 of all of our food.
Without bees, not only would we lose out on many yummy foods like apples, broccoli, strawberries, and cucumbers, but the beef and dairy industries would be severely threatened as well— bees usually pollinate the alfalfa used for cow feed. As we realize the importance of bees, people are now doing their darndest to save them.
Helen Bradley, a woman from Halifax, United Kingdom, recently went viral after sharing the way she handled an unexpected run-in with a swarm of bees that was huddled on a neighboring driveway.
“We found a honey bee swarm on someone’s driveway yesterday,” she writes. “So we rang a local beekeeper whose number appeared on our local beekeeping association website.”
“They settled on this drive as there was some chocolate on the ground that they were drawn to.”
The beekeeper was extremely grateful that Helen had contacted him instead of trying to get rid of the bees herself.
Helen explains, “All too often people kill them with pesticides, boiling water or even petrol rather than wanting to help them find a new home.”
The beekeeper propped a basket up over the bees, placing a honeycomb inside to attract them.
He says the bees’ hive had likely been disturbed— or another queen had taken it over. Buzz About Bees explains that swarms of bees “are focused on finding a new nest, not attacking.”
They say, “A swarm may stay around for a few days, depending on how quickly the scout bees find a suitable new home. This could happen very quickly, even within a day.”
People love the fact that Helen went out of her way to contact the beekeeper and save the bees— a lot of people wouldn’t have bothered.
If you’re interested in saving the honey bees, here are a few tips from Queen of the Sun:
- Plant bee-friendly flowers and herbs in your garden
- Don’t use chemicals or pesticides
- Put a small basin of fresh water outside your home— bees get thirsty!
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