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Court in the Swarm

Court in the Swarm

Beegone.co.uk sheds light on the Alcaraz-Zverev tennis match bee invasion

Image courtesy of Sky News

The recent tennis match suspension between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev due to a bee invasion has captured the public’s attention far beyond the sports world, turning into a buzzing topic of environmental and educational significance. The incident which occurred in Indian Wells, California, has brought to light the general public’s lack of knowledge about bee behaviour, particularly the nature of bee swarms. At Beegone.co.uk, as leaders in bee conservation and safe removal, we see this event as a prime opportunity to educate and advocate for a deeper understanding of bees and their crucial role in our ecosystem.

Understanding Bee Behavior

The unexpected descent of thousands of bees onto a tennis court, leading to the suspension of a high-profile match, may seem alarming at first. However, it’s a phenomenon that, with the right knowledge, can be addressed safely and effectively. Bees swarming is a natural and generally non-aggressive behaviour that occurs when a queen bee leaves the colony with a large group of worker bees in search of a new home. This behaviour is more common in spring, which could explain the timing of the invasion during the Alcaraz-Zverev match.

The public’s confusion during the event, including uncertainty about whether the insects were bees and what prompted their appearance, underscores a widespread need for education on bee behaviour. Many did not know that bees are not usually aggressive when they swarm, as their focus is on protecting the queen, not on attacking bystanders. This lack of knowledge can lead to panic and inappropriate reactions that may endanger both people and bees.

Beegone: Advocating for Education and Coexistence

At Beegone, we are dedicated to educating the public about the importance of bees to our environment and the best practices for coexisting with them. We believe knowledge is the key to reducing fear and fostering a harmonious relationship between humans and bees. By understanding bee behaviour, including why and how bees swarm, individuals can respond more calmly and constructively when encountering them.

Our expertise in safely removing and relocating bee swarms without harming them positions Beegone as a leading authority in this area. We advocate for informed, compassionate approaches to handling bee invasions, emphasising that such incidents, while rare, are opportunities for learning and growth.

How Beegone Can Help

In the wake of the bee invasion at the tennis match, Beegone is stepping up to offer, education, and services to sports venues, schools, businesses, and individuals on how to prepare for and safely address bee swarms. Our team of experts is equipped to provide assistance in live bee removal, ensuring the safety of all involved and the preservation of bee populations. Furthermore, we offer workshops and informational material online aimed at demystifying bees and their behaviours, empowering communities to protect these vital pollinators.

The bee invasion during the Alcaraz-Zverev tennis match is more than just a momentary disruption; it’s a wake-up call highlighting the need for greater awareness and understanding of our natural world. As we move forward, Beegone is committed to leading the charge in educating the public about bees, advocating for their protection, and providing expert services to ensure that humans and bees can coexist peacefully and productively. Together, we can turn moments of confusion and fear into opportunities for learning, growth, and environmental stewardship.

Bee protection

Bee protection

Working Bees

Whether bees are protected is a common question…there’s much media hype about their importance within our ecosystem and their decline so it’s natural to expect that they would be a protected species. However, despite us already losing 13 types in recent years and another 35 being at risk, they’re not protected.

 

In the case of honeybees, their honeycomb is protected – it’s illegal to misuse insecticide spray on honeycomb in an attempt to kill honeybees. Misuse is classified as administering insecticide to kill bees without sealing off the entry/exit points of the space the comb is in. The reason for this law is to safeguard food sources – foraging bees from other colonies will steal honey from abandoned comb and if it’s been sprayed the chemicals will contaminate the previously healthy honey of those thieving bees which could be used as a human food source. In fact, there aren’t any insecticides approved for use on honeybees and there have been court cases where people have been fined up to £25,000 for this very act.

All 250 species of bees are vital for the preservation of our ecosystems and are responsible for pollinating three-quarters of plants that produce 90% of the world’s food. It would cost UK farmers £1.8bn per year to pollinate their crops using people instead of bees! Despite this, they’re in decline due to factors such as increased farming, more widespread use of pesticides, habitat loss (97% of flower-rich fields have been lost since the 1930s) and climate change.

 

Just recently the European Commission has voted in favour of a ban on the use of bee-harming neonicotinoids on all outdoor crops and the UK government are doing things to address the decline of Britain’s key pollinators, such as The National Pollinator Strategy, the 25 Year Environment Plan which encourages the minimisation of pesticides, and the “Bees’ Needs Week” in July. However, more needs to be done to reverse the decline of the bee population.

Honey Super
Close up of Honey Bee Comb Honeycomb Pattern

There are many websites, organisations and petitions focused on saving bees, for example, Save bees. Friends of the Earth has a campaign dedicated to it (friends of the earth), as does the Wildlife Trust (Wildlife trust) – you can find out more about how you can help on their websites.

 

Of the 250 bee species residing in the UK, 24 are bumblebees, there’s one honeybee species and the remainder are solitary bees.  Other than supporting the campaigns above and signing petitions, there are many things that you can do to help bees which vary from species to species.

 

For solitary bees, building a bee hotel in a garden environment can provide a safe nesting and breeding site. Bumblebees, meanwhile, can be supported with the right choice of plants in a garden, such as high pollen flowers like sunflowers, lavender, foxgloves and even vegetable plants. Avoid rapeseed, as when its brief flowering period ends, it can lead to mass starvation. 

 

Honeybees will also appreciate high pollen flowers but be warned, the products used to treat gardens can cause devastating effects. Homeowners should use organic products and natural alternatives – such as milk – where possible, rather than synthetic pesticides and plant treatments.

Of course, if you have an issue with bees in or around your property another way you can support the population is to ensure you employ an ethical company/person to remove the bees for you in an environmentally-friendly way. If you’re interested in finding out the cost of live bee removal see our article here: Beegone cost comparison

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Live Bee Removal Logo 3 | Beegone

At Beegone® Honeybee Removal, we truly understand how precious our bees are.

Beegone® specialises in the safe, environmentally friendly, live removal and rehoming of honeybee swarms and colonies, from structures or naturally occurring cavities. We cover the entire UK and have a team of trained and dedicated technicians ready to serve you.

Our aim is to educate people and businesses on honeybee identification and how to deal with them. We remove feral honeybees from structures, relocate them and prevent them from returning.

Plant a Bee-Friendly Garden

Plant a Bee-Friendly Garden

There are a number of plants and shrubs that will attract bees to your garden and provide plenty of pollen for them to collect and thrive.

These are just a few:

  • purple tansy (Phacelia)
  • chrysanthemums (chrysanthemum)
  • poppies (Papava)
  • cornflowers (Centaurea)
  • Lavender
  • privet (Ligustrum)
  • buddleia (Buddleja)
  • hydrangeas (Hydrangea)
  • lupins (Lupinus)
  • viper’s bugloss (Echium)
 
Flower Meadow and Bee | Beegone

They also love wild plants like…

  • brambles (Rubus)
  • sow thistles (Sonchus)
  • wild lettuce (Lactuca)

Did you know?

Flowers with double heads, although quite full and dramatic, produce much less nectar and also make it more difficult for bees to reach the pollen.

Plant blooms that flower in different seasons:

…which have been bred not to seed and thus produce very little pollen for bees.

Plant at least three different types of flowers in your bee garden to ensure blooms through as many seasons as possible. This will provide bees and other pollinators with a constant source of food.  For example:

Spring: Crocus, hyacinth, borage, calendula, and wild lilac

Summer: cosmos, echinacea, snapdragons foxglove

Autumn: zinnias, sedum, asters, witch hazel

Which herbs work the best?

Bees love nectar-filled herbs and researchers recommend planting the below to attract the most amount of pollinators.

  • Thyme
  • Comfrey
  • Oregano
  • Lemon balm
  • Lavender
  • Rosemary

Other herbs, such as coriander, fennel and dill, produce very small flowers that attract smaller bees. Fennel and dill also serve as food for black swallowtail caterpillars and are easy to plant in your garden at home to help insects.

The study also suggests to use the leaves from the plants earlier for cooking or medicine purposes and to let the plants grow flowers to support the pollinators.

If you have space, consider planting scent gardens made up wholly of herbs to help supply nutrients to the bees.

Herbs | Beegone

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Live Bee Removal Logo 3 | Beegone

At Beegone® Honeybee Removal, we truly understand how precious our bees are.

Beegone® specialises in the safe, environmentally friendly, live removal and rehoming of honeybee swarms and colonies, from structures or naturally occurring cavities. We cover the entire UK and have a team of trained and dedicated technicians ready to serve you.

Our aim is to educate people and businesses on honeybee identification and how to deal with them. We remove feral honeybees from structures, relocate them and prevent them from returning.

Bees Saved from Battle Station East Sussex

Bees Saved from Battle Station East Sussex

Dan Bee Hospital | Beegone

Between 2500 and 3000 bees were rescued from the Battle Station chimney on the 16th of October 2018. Battle Station is a listed building in East Sussex. These bees were taken to the Bee Hospital which is a blue natural softwood pine hive belonging to Dan, a Bee Removal Technician from Beegone, who is also a beekeeper.

The bee hospital

The bee hospital already housed a bee colony, but the numbers were not great. These existing bees had been rescued from a listed building in the Cotswolds in April 2018. The Colony was about 15 years old. When the bees were rescued there was no queen and so a queen was ordered from a Beekeeper and (if you can believe this) sent via Royal Mail. The queen is delivered in a casing containing fondant.  She is put in an inaccessible area of the hive for 7 days before she is introduced to the colony. After 7 days the casing containing the queen is placed in the hive. The colony will either accept her by licking and feeding her through the gaps in the casing or they will reject her by stinging and biting her. Thankfully, in this case they accepted her and they chewed through the fondant layer to release her.

The Battle Station Bees

The honeybees from Battle Station are introduced by placing them in the top layers of the hive with newspaper separating them from the existing colony. The bees chew through the newspaper to get to each other. During the process of chewing through the newspaper the 2 colonies become friends.

Since the two colonies have been integrated the weather has turned cold again after the brief warm spell.  The bee hospital has been wrapped up to protect the honeybees from the cold. But upon checking them we are delighted to report that the numbers have increased and the queen is in the process of laying eggs.

Honey

Last year Dan harvested 29 jars of honey from the bees in the bee hospital. This year he is hoping for much more now that the colony has grown in strength and numbers.

Live Bee Removal Logo 3 | Beegone

At Beegone® Honeybee Removal, we truly understand how precious our bees are.

Beegone® specialises in the safe, environmentally friendly, live removal and rehoming of honeybee swarms and colonies, from structures or naturally occurring cavities. We cover the entire UK and have a team of trained and dedicated technicians ready to serve you.

Our aim is to educate people and businesses on honeybee identification and how to deal with them. We remove feral honeybees from structures, relocate them and prevent them from returning.

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