They do like to bee beside the quayside

By Martin Neville

Thursday, May 24, 2012

 

They do like to bee beside the quayside

Beekeeper Bob Bromley tackles the swarm at Yarmouth. Jennifer Burton.

UPDATED 16:10*

THIS swarm of bees made for a spectacular sight in an Isle of Wight town today (Thursday).

Honey bees swarmed around Yarmouth quayside before settling on a picnic bench outside the Harbour Lights restaurant.

One witness said: "There must have been about a million bees swarming everywhere. It was an amazing sight."

Elizabeth Kennison, who works at the restaurant, said: "We were told they had been seen flying over the pier and people thought they were flies until they landed.

"They were climbing all over the top of the table and now they are underneath it clumped together."

Wellow bee keeper Bob Bromley was called to help and removed the bees.

*But at around 3.30pm the bees escaped their temporary home and the swarm flew to The George Hotel, where they had settled in a tree.

Mr Bromley said he hoped to carefully brush the bees into a specialist skep, similar to a wicker basket, before taking them to the apiary at Quarr Abbey.

Bees

Picture by Jennifer Burton

Bees 2

Picture by Rob Liddington

Reporter: martinn@iwcpmail.co.uk

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by Jack Toole

26th May 2012, at 11:16:04

Great headline! My dear lady just said, “In these hard times Quarr must be thankful for these 'Free-bees'!”

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by Rosemary Stewart

24th May 2012, at 16:33:55

There is no charge yet for entrance to Ventnor Botanic Garden so please buzz over there to see a wonderful display of Mediterranean flowers. The bees love the big echiums.

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by Annabel Reagan

24th May 2012, at 14:46:49

whilst most bee stings are mildy painful, you have to guard against anaphalactic shock which can occur. i would advise people not to panic but to give these bees a wide berth until they naturally move on, or until they are removed by the authorities.

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by Paul Strauss

24th May 2012, at 14:42:11

Amazing pedantry from Vernon there. Perhaps the beekeeper should lead them to Ventnor Botanical Gardens - now there is an entrance fee I am sure the new owners will be delighted with a million paying customers.

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by Vernon Hines

24th May 2012, at 14:33:59

Mr Miller, whilst I agree that all the evidence points to the Pied Piper indeed being a mass murderer, I think it is incorrect to state that he was "not a rodent exterminator." He was in fact just that, having been hired by the townsmen of Hamelin to delivering the city from rats. Upon the city's deliverance, the townsmen refused to pay him, and it was that infamous betrayal that propelled him to violence. So, let us hope that the townsmen (and women in this PC age) of Yarmouth learn the lessons of history and ensure that the local beekeper is paid for his services.

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by augustus miller

24th May 2012, at 14:20:33

bloody good job there was a local beekeeper on hand to save the day, very much in the style of Rattenfänger von Hameln, who incidentally was in fact a serial killer and not a rodent exterminator as is widely and very wrongly perceived by the vast majority of the human race

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by Paul Strauss

24th May 2012, at 14:01:12

its probably this nice swarm weather we are having...great headline by the way

Any views or opinions presented in the comments above are solely those of the author and do not represent those of the Isle of Wight County Press.

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