A Canadian beekeeper has described fending off thousands of “robber bees” as they raided her shop in a brazen attempt to steal honey.
Christine McDonald, who owns Rushing River Apiaries in the British Columbia city of Terrace, said she entered her shop to find it overrun by the swarm.
“I think that’s the most panicked I have felt … There’s thousands of bees, I don’t know where they’re coming from, and I need to protect all of the honey,” she told CBC News.
Raids of rival hives are common after hot, dry summers, when a “nectar gap” emerges between spring blooms and autumn flowers. Larger bee colonies also need more food to collect and store.
“Fall beekeeping is very intense – trying to help bees hunker down against other bees and wasps and keep the food stores that they’ve worked so hard for,” said McDonald, who has previously seen raids on her outdoor hives – but never on her store.
Experts warn against attempting to stop a “robbing frenzy” and suggest covering hives with wet blankets to ward off invaders.
“When a hive is robbed, the invading bees kill bees and may even kill the queen. They tear open wax cells to get at the honey inside and can remove large amounts of honey very quickly,” said one beekeeping guide. “Worse, ripping open cells spreads the smell of honey far and wide, which attracts other invaders like wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets. These insects are even more aggressive, and will promptly kill off any bees left in the hive.”
McDonald says she avoided disaster by throwing a tarp over the equipment and products, but ended up “sacrificing her bathroom” in order to trap the invading bees.
By leaving the lights on in the room, she lured the bees away from their target. McDonald later scoured the shop in search of ingress points, discovering that the bees had entered through a gap in the door frame, which has since been sealed.
She said it took four or five days before the ravenous bees stopped trying to return to her shop.
“I think they’ve learned that, nope, there’s no more food here,” she said. “We can’t get in.”
