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news
Honey bee (licensed GFDL 1.2 by Muhammad Mahdi Karim)Anger in Essex as bees that chose bike as home wiped out with fly spray
People in Southend have been expressing their anger after a swarm of bees that had made a parked bicycle their home were killed by someone armed with two cans of fly-killing spray.
The bees, believed to have come from a hive at Southend Museum had settled on the silver and red bike in the Essex town’s Victoria Circus last Monday, reports the Echo’s Paul Nizinskyj.
The newspaper reports that it is thought the local council’s environmental health department were taking steps to move the bees to a safe place when a woman with fly spray intervened.
Yesterday, a swarm of bees mistook a bicycle in Southend High Street for a tree. pic.twitter.com/gtxYoHinnD
— Your Southend (@YourSouthend) May 12, 2015
Onlooker Ray Bronski described what happened. “This young girl, all dressed in black, turned up with two cans of fly spray and just sprayed the bees,” he said.
“They swarmed up in the air, before falling back down to the ground.
“She sprayed them a few more times and they were then just blown across the street, dead and dying, which was very sad.
“A few of us had been watching them in order to keep people away from them, but there were people saying they were going to set light to them.
“One guy tried to shake the bike and another spat on them. I just thought ‘who are these idiots?’
“We were hoping the council would do something because telephone calls were made, but no one showed up.”
A street ranger working for the local business improvement district had alerted the council to the presence of the bees on Monday after being told about them by police, but they were killed before the local authority managed to intervene.
It is not known whether the woman who killed them was the owner of the bicycle.
“We deplore this,” said a spokesman for Southend-on-Sea Council.
“While the council does not remove bees, a member of our environmental care team visited the swarm after calls from the public.
“We understand a local beekeeper did attend the site, so we think that the majority of the swarm was boxed and taken away and those killed were ones that escaped and returned.
“However we cannot confirm that.”
A local beekeeper warned that any bees that may have survived the attack may put other hives at risk.
Ann Cushion said: “The worst possible thing you can do is to start spraying chemicals about, because bees are notorious thieves and will often steal honey from other hives if they can.
“If any bees from the attack survived and tried it, it could bring that nasty chemical into the hive. I know of at least one case a few years ago when just that happened.”
Many people making comments to the article condemned the person who intervened, some pointing out that the bee population is in decline.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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29 comments
Cheaper than a d-lock and more secure
Another reason to prove there is no such thing as a god. No way would he/she create a creature like us that is so horrible, so selfish and frankly destroying the plant he/she created.
Circular logic there. If "We" are so nasty we disprove the existence of God then the Earth was not created by He/She/It and we may do with it as we see fit. Morality was co-opted by religion for its own purposed centuries ago. Why you think this incident has anything to do with religion, God only know.
We had a swarm take up residence in our compost bin. Started building a hive within a few hours. Called local beekeeper to come take them away, which they did with no problems. Bees aren't like wasps, no reason to kill them off. Bit of a pain if it was your bike they were swarming on, mind...
Was reading in paper the other day that there has been a huge rise in urban swarming due to an increase of city folk setting up aviaries because it's trendy to produce honey and their environmental attempt to protect the bee, but not understanding when a hive was about to split due to the new queen emerging. Experienced bee keepers recognise this and establish a new hive. The inexperienced don't which results in swarms resting on windows, cars, fences etc while the scouts seek out an appropriate place. It's just a coincidence that a bike has been involved on this occasion. My dad told me that you can destroy a wasps nest but a wild hive was to be left or moved to a safer place as bees were considered protected.
Apiaries, I think. Aviaries are where you keep birds.
Cheers brooksby. That was the word I was looking for. That teaches me for posting while suffering sleep deprivation
There is a lot of s angry reactive stereotyping going on here. Not very uplifting.
Shame about the bees. Stop shouting. Do something. Contact Barnes & Webb.
What would Barnes and Webb do with thousands of bee carcasses?
Coat them in spices, roast them and sell them as snacks in packets.
Who says bees are in decline?
http://www.agprofessional.com/news/bee-population-rising-around-world
Beware quoting a single source. Especially one with such close links to the Agrichemical Industry.
There is a growing body of evidence linking neuro-active pesticides, particularly neonicotinoids, and Sudden Hive Collapse Syndrome.
This has fuck-all to do with cycling. Great DM-style non-story. Next up, an article about someone carrying their clothes to the dry cleaners, because they passed a parked bicycle on their way. Don't forget the obligatory 10 photos.
So sad.
Bees are wonderfully docile when they're swarming (which is likely what was happening here) - they wouldn't hurt a fly. You can handle a swarm practically with bare hands (though i wouldn't try it if gloves were available!).
Massive spike in cyclist fatalities in Southend. Entire club wearing yellow and black jerseys wiped out in a single incident. Something must be done.
Southend Wheelers could only hope for that many members.
What's Road.cc's purpose nowadays? It used to be about cycling. Now they just seem to be repackaging stories from local papers that happen near a bike.
Time to unfollow, I'm afraid. Road.cc, I wish you all the best.
We don't all view life through a keyhole.
You will be sorely missed
Sad story, especially since it was avoidable. A properly equipped apiculturist could have moved the bees to a safe place with no risk to the colony. One phone call to the right place is all it would have taken.
Oh good, something else to add to my "why I hate people" list.
Presumably the types of morons that spend their lives on the couch watching x-factor and have never heard of declining bee populations - how utterly depressing...
So everyone who watches the X Factor is a bee killing moron ...just the sort of dumb reply you would expect from a genuine moron ... make yourself useful and go tour some bicycle parks and save some bees
I don't think they are all bee killers!
You forgot to mention Benafit street, but I know exactly what you mean.
Well done, good people of southend.
image_1049.jpg
"There's some bees on that bike. Best spit on them, that's the best thing to do in this particular situation" said no normal person, ever.
what an ugly, dumb person. If i was there i would have ripped the cans out of her hands and sprayed them in her face. Can't believe those idiots just stood around and watched her kill them all. And some fucking idiot spits at them! Honestly, i despair.
A female ninja in Southend with nary a care for declining bee populations. Incidentally no bikes were harmed in the making of this report.
One way I'spose to prevent your bike from beeing nicked. A bit drastic though.
Was the bike a B-twin?