Sweet! Hive of 50,000 bees saved and moved
LISTOWEL — The perilous situation of pollinators worldwide isn’t lost on Spinrite LP.
And when a massive hive of honeybees was found within a wall on a remote floor of one of its Listowel buildings, Spinrite representatives made sure that they were relocated so that they can continue on with their crucial work come the spring.
Health and safety specialist Julie Clarke first came across the hive in August when in what is deemed the “Woolen Mill,” a 100-year-old building mostly used for storage on site of the yarn-producing facility.
“I was putting something away, and I noticed an awful lot of bees — or wasps — I wasn’t sure which, and I wasn’t staying in there long enough to find out,” said Clarke.
The insects were identified as honeybees, and a plan was put into motion to safely remove them.
Bee experts Fred Leutenegger, Jenn Smith and Hans Signer were contracted to extract the hive.
Collectively, the three beekeepers oversee 75 hives of their own, with as many as 80,000 bees per hive in their peak season.
With winter drawing closer, Smith estimated there were about 50,000 bees occupying the Spinrite hive.
It took more than three hours to extract the colony from a hollow space between an interior wall and an exterior window filled with layer upon layer of sticky honeycomb.
Signer used a modified vacuum to suck up the bees into boxes, while Leutenegger cut into the wall and layers of honeycomb. He then turned them over to Smith to ready for transport as food for the colony’s relocation.
“We need the bees. We’re saving the bees,” said Leutenegger.
“We’re all very happy and excited that we can sort of give back, because we need the bees for the overall benefit of our planet,” said Clarke. “Very little goes on up on this floor. It’s quiet and maybe opportune for them up there.”
The Spinrite colony will be taking up residence at Leutenegger’s Wallace Ward farm.
When asked how many times he has been stung over his many years of handling bees, he only smiled and said he couldn’t even guess.
“I don’t even think about it now when I’m stung,” said Leutenegger, adding that bee venom has many health benefits for humans.
“Now I just say, ‘thank you.’ ”