Bee menace reported in several estates

Jeremy Koh Channel NewsAsia 9 Jul 10;

SINGAPORE : Beehives have been creating some buzz in the estates in Singapore. One of them was in Woodlands.

A MediaCorp News hotline caller saw a one-metre long beehive that was just beginning to form.

The caller told Channel NewsAsia that the bees started flying into her flat on Thursday night. Residents called the town council, which removed the beehive.

Nearby, another small colony of bees had also started to form, but was destroyed by pest controllers.

The bee menace has been reported in several estates, including one in Hougang Avenue 8 last Thursday.

Residents said the swarm of bees appeared within the span of just a few hours.

"I didn't know at first, until my neighbour from the 16th floor told me. Then I went to see. There were really a lot of bees, like lanterns dangling there."

A spokesperson from Aljunied Town Council said he had received feedback from residents about the swarm of bees at 11am that day.

And the bees were removed thirty minutes later, using chemical sprays.

Margie Hall from the Nature Society of Singapore, said the bees are likely to be honey bees. And they appeared to be treating the staircase landing as a temporary refuge while they sought a permanent home.

Margie Hall, honorary secretary, Nature Society (Singapore), said: "They're not inherently aggressive at all, so long as they're allowed to go peacefully about their business, they have no intention of stinging everybody, they're not out to get anybody.

"But if they get upset, then they will sting people, and they might get upset if people walk into their path of flight."

As the bees are congregating in an urban setting, Ms Hall said they can pose a danger to those living around the area.

So even though bees, as prime pollinators, are a vital part of the eco-system, Ms Hall said destroying them with chemical sprays may be inevitable.

She said: "They're obviously a last resort as you're going to kill and destroy the bees. But how quickly you move to the last resort depends upon how many people you've got around, and how much control you've got over what people do."

And her advice to those who encounter huge swarms of bees is to stay far away.

- CNA/al