Bee swarm moved from bike panniers
16th June 2015
Bijenzwerm op fietstas BIJ AH in #bloemendaal Onderweg om de #bijen en hun boodschappen op te halen pic.twitter.com/wqiIwmZxWi
— Pim Lemmers (@pimlemmers) June 15, 2015A beekeeper was called to Albert Hein supermarket in Bloemendaal, near Haarlem, west of Amsterdam, yesterday.
Pim Lemmers was asked to take away a swarm of bees which had found in a
home in bike panniers outside the shop. The bike's owner was inside,
doing her shopping.
A swarm occurs when there are too many bees in a colony, and a second queen is created. She leaves the original colony with some of the workers, and chooses a new home.
Some shoppers in Bloemendaal were nervous about the bees, but swarming bees are docile, as their bellies are full of honey. Lemmers moved the bees into a wooden hive, without wearing any protection, and wasn't stung. There's a video of him moving the bees on this NOS.nl report.
When he was on his way to the supermarket, he joked on Twitter that he was going to pick up the bees and their shopping. A few hours later, he tweeted that twenty different beekeepers had contacted him, claiming to be the owners of the bees.