Locals have been urged to 'keep away' after a huge bees' nest wad found in a park. The play area has now been closed after the insects were discovered inside a large ramp at the skate park at Hangstones Playing Fields in Yatton yesterday ( June 12)
The park has been taped off and signage put in place warning people not to use the area. A beekeeper has been contacted to remove the nest, reports Somerset Live.
A spokesman for Yatton Parish Council said: “A bees' nest has been found inside the large ramp of the skate park on Hangstones. It is very active.
READ MORE: Bee swarm 'apocalypse' traps Bristol bakers inside their shop
“It has been taped off and signage put up. Please to keep away and off the ramp.
“A bee keeper has been contacted and is going to try and encourage them to move on this evening.” According to the British Beekeepers Association most swarms occur on warm sunny days between May until the end of July.
A long and cold spring followed by rising temperatures means larger swarms are now searching for new hives. Swarming is the process by which honey bee colonies reproduce to form new colonies and can include thousands of bees.
And we are now in swarm season for honey bees, but there is no need to panic if you see thousands of the insects while out and about. They are not a danger if you know what to do, and what not to do.
Bee experts have said that you can see honey bees from April to October, from spring through to autumn. And when it comes to swarms, you could see them of roofs, walls spaces, floors, trees, chimneys or on cars.
Sue Fink, a retired hairdresser from Oldham, owns two hives, containing more than 60,000 bees combined, and spoke to the Manchester Evening News about the remarkable insects. She acts as a 'swarm remover' and has reassuring words for anyone who comes across one.
She said: "When you see swarms of bees attacking people in a film, that will not happen in real life. Because a swarm of bees is sworn to defend the queen bee, who is in the middle of that swarm.
"All they’re interested in is in protecting their queen. You could walk past the swarm, you could stand and watch them, or sit underneath them, and they would completely ignore you.
"Remember, worker bees are sworn to protect their queen. And if you disturb them with a stick and if the queen bee moves out, then the worker bees would be frenzied and they would sting you."
