First Class job rescuing bees from a post box

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BEEKEEPER Fee Robinson flew to the rescue when a Royal Mail maintenance man spotted bees flying in and out of a post box in Lyneham.

Miss Robinson, from the Wiltshire Bee Centre at Yate, used her expertise to re-home the bees that had started nesting in the post box on Preston Lane.

She cut the nest free, scooped up the bees, and placed them in a bee box before using smoke to mask pheromones secreted by the queen bee as a signal to other bees.

The scene attracted some interest from passers-by, joggers and drivers, who stared when they saw Miss Robinson wearing her protective face mask.


Miss Robinson said: “People did slow down as they drove past to do a double take.

“When he went to open the box the postman saw them flying in and out of the slit.

“We opened up the box and the bees had started nesting.

“It took about two hours because I couldn’t afford to have any bees going back into that post box, because someone would have got a nasty surprise.

“If they hadn’t been removed they would have been quite happy living there. They wouldn’t have left of their own accord, it’s a perfect home for them.”

When a bee colony is strong enough it will raise a new queen and look for a new place to set up, often during the warmer weather in April, May and June.

Miss Robinson is busy collecting bee swarms during these months and also collected two more the same day.

One was in an apple tree and the other wasin a small shrub.

She said: “I’ve done three today. It’s the first one in a post box, but I do collect a lot of swarms. “The phone has not stopped for the last two weeks.”

The Wiltshire Bee Centre is operated by bee-farmers with a combined experience of 40 years beekeeping, both here and Australia. The bees are scattered throughout the north of Wiltshire, where possible on organic or natural pasturelands.

For more information visit http://www.wiltshirebeecentre.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; or contact Fee on fee@feesbees.co.uk or call 07966 362 850.