Family 'trapped' as Midland street invaded by a million bees
Residents of a Worcester suburb are being held hostage in their homes by an invasion of a MILLION bees, creating scenes reminiscent of a horror film each summer.
Homeowners on Corfe Avenue, in Warndon, report regular attacks and stings from the "aggressive" bees, making life unbearable for up to half the year.
Locals are too terrified to venture outside their properties, while others have experienced a "a monsoon" of bees invading their living rooms via their chimneys.
Read more: The Brummie billionaire
Some residents avoid their gardens entirely for fear of being stung by the angry swarm, which is believed to originate from a landlord who keeps 21 hives in his rented property's garden.
They claim this issue has persisted for over a decade but has escalated significantly in recent years, forcing them to keep their doors and windows shut.
One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, likened the swarms of what is estimated to be over a million bees to "living in a horror film."
She added: "You're literally stuck in your homes on some days when they swarm in big numbers - it's just not worth the risk going out.
"Our doors and windows are shut tight, but they can still get down chimneys. It's like something from a horror film. Like the Candyman or something."
Another resident, who also wished to remain anonymous due to fear of repercussions, said: "I am on the alert all the time and I haven't sat in my garden since Covid."
The resident explained: "He probably first got the hives around 15 years ago but he was living there then.
"Since then he moved out and they have just been left completely unmanaged and the problem has got progressively worse.
"We're not opposed to bees but we can't live a normal life. I have been stung multiple times.
"These swarms go on all summer, from May, up until around October - people are scared to leave their homes.
"My neighbour had them all in her chimney. It was really distressing, the cheapest way was to have them killed and they were literally raining down her chimney.
"Sometimes you are left trapped inside, only last week I was heading out and heard this swarm before they appeared above me.
"I had to take the decision to stay in. Workmen have refused to come back here once they learn of the bees.
"A couple of weeks back I was stung on the leg particularly badly and had to go straight to the pharmacy, I've been told I might still need antibiotics.
"So they are aggressive bees. Some drop dead on our patios, so I don't know if they are diseased or what, but they certainly aren't looked after.
"He used to message me if he was coming to tend to his bees - basically saying don't go out into your garden today."
Another resident added: "When it happened to me, in two weeks a colony grew to a meter long and there were around 40,000 to 60,000 bees in my chimney.
"It was like torrential rain - a monsoon - entering my living room. It was horrible."
Bee infestations in Worcester have sparked outrage among residents, with claims of stings and unmanageable swarms disrupting daily life. With no existing legislation to limit hive numbers in residential zones, Councillor Sarah Murray, alongside John Rudge from Worcester City Council, are demanding a review of the rules.
Cllr Murray stated: "This has gone well beyond a private matter."
Residents have faced bee stings and been unable to open windows for fear of swarms entering their homes, according to Cllr Murray. She recounted: "One resident was quoted £8,000 to have a swarm removed and contacted me asking for help."
Complaints have multiplied as garden-goers suffer stings from allegedly poorly managed hives.
The councillor further mentioned: "We're having this beautiful weather and they are having to keep their windows closed so the bees aren't coming into their houses."
Problems extend to local workers, with Cllr Murray adding: "Workmen have been stung and when they have found out about unmanaged hives they have not returned to complete the work they have been hired to do."
She condemned the inadequate management of the hives, urging action: "The person responsible for those bees is not managing them so we are getting these swarms and angry bees who are stinging people. We need to do something about it."
Steps towards a resolution are being considered, with Worcestershire Regulatory Services re-evaluating regulations and Cllr Murray suggesting various actions including a site inspection and applying the Environmental Protection Act 1990 or a Community Protection Notice.
Worcestershire Regulatory Services has labelled the bee issue as a private matter, stating it's down to the household to sort it out.
Yet, they haven't ruled out stepping in with an abatement notice—a legal tool used by councils to tackle nuisances.
A spokesperson for Worcester City Council shared: "Worcestershire Regulatory Services is investigating the complaint on behalf of the city council.
"It is not appropriate to comment further at this time."
Martyn Cracknell, head honcho at the Worcestershire Beekeepers Association, explained that swarming is just bees doing what comes naturally when it's time to expand their family.
When a hive gets too crowded, the old queen buzzes off with some of her followers to set up shop nearby.
But, according to Mr Cracknell, it's on the beekeeper to spot when it's moving day and help the queen and her entourage relocate without causing a buzz.
The property's landlord has been approached for a response.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Safe route past man-made weir created for eels
A project to allow eels and other fish to safely bypass a man-made weir has been completed. The concrete weir, created by Essex and Suffolk Water in the River Blackwater, near Maldon, Essex, was preventing fish from completing their natural migration upstream. The route is particularly important for eels, which travel from the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic. They mature from glass eels to elvers to yellow eels in the River Blackwater and other places in the UK before heading back to the North Atlantic to lay eggs. Project manager Kerri Russell, of Essex & Suffolk Water, said: "We take a great deal of care to make sure the work we do isn't to the detriment of the local environment. "It's a bespoke design, with peg tiles for the eels to weave through and baffle tiles for the fish, to slow the flow of water and allow them to rest if they need to. "We've had a lot of interest from local groups, so recently our teams carried out visits to the site, which is on private land, to explain the work that has taken place and why it is important." The Environment Agency has set up a camera to monitor the fish that pass through the new structure. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. River Blackwater Essex & Suffolk Water Sargasso Sea Commission
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
'Damp forced us to live in bedroom for four years'
A woman has said she and her husband were forced to live upstairs in their home in Leeds for four years after the council failed to solve an issue with damp. Melanie Town said the damp, from a flood under her council-owned home, caused appliances to break down, destroyed furniture and led to further health concerns for her husband, who was recovering from a serious illness. Mrs Town said: "It destroys you, knowing the council knew the condition we were living in and that we lost everything downstairs, and did nothing to address it." A council spokesperson apologised for not fully resolving the issue, but said multiple repairs had been carried out and the house had remained "habitable". Mrs Town said the repairs to the property in Thorpe on the Hill, where she had lived for 12 years before moving to East Yorkshire at the end of last year, had included replastering the living room five times after it kept becoming damp. "We lived in the bedroom for four years. The mental health [impact] from doing that in your late 40s and 50s – it's no good at all," Mrs Town said. "I'm not upset, I'm angry. They wouldn't live like that, so why did they expect me to?" Mrs Town said it had become a "running joke" with builders, plasterers and plumbers when they repeatedly visited the property to fix the same issues. "The council was sending plasterer after plasterer to rip off the walls and re-do them, without getting to the root cause of the damp and the mould," she said. She explained that the damp had caused the oven and fridge-freezer to break down and work surfaces to come away from the wall in the kitchen. Meanwhile, the carpet had begun to smell and it eventually had to be removed, leaving bare floorboards, she said. Mrs Town said she and her husband had to take their clothes to the laundrette and they had lived on takeaways and air fryer food - even having Christmas dinner in their bedroom. "It's enough to take a toll on anybody," she said. Mrs Town said that despite being in the top priority band for council housing and bidding for a new property every week, trying to downsize from their three-bedroom home, they were never able to secure one. She said they had taken things into their own hands in December and had moved to Hornsea in East Yorkshire, which she said was "not ideal" and had been an "upheaval". "I was suffering with chest infection after chest infection, and I just said I couldn't do it anymore. Anchor Homes offered us this one, so I took it," Mrs Town said. "We have lovely neighbours, but it is quiet, and I feel out of place at times. "Without a car here, you are cut off. Both our families [are in Leeds], and my friends are there." Mrs Town said the move had also meant the couple had to pay for further travel and accommodation when Mr Town had hospital appointments in Sheffield which he still needed to attend following a bleed on the brain eight years ago. She said Leeds City Council had been aware of Mr Town's health issues, which included a small stroke, loss of hearing and chest infections since the brain haemorrhage. "Any council should not get away with making people live like that. I am really angry with them. I want them to acknowledge what they've done," she said. Responding, a spokesperson for Leeds City Council said repairs were carried out on several occasions in an attempt to resolve the issue at Mr and Mrs Town's home. "Unfortunately, the root cause was not addressed, and the issue returned when there was heavy rainfall," they said. "The property remained habitable during the tenancy, although Leeds City Council apologise for not being able to resolve the matter fully." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North Leeds City Council
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Damp forced us to live in bedroom for four years'
A woman has said she and her husband were forced to live upstairs in their home in Leeds for four years after the council failed to solve an issue with damp. Melanie Town said the damp, from a flood under her council-owned home, caused appliances to break down, destroyed furniture and led to further health concerns for her husband, who was recovering from a serious illness. Mrs Town said: "It destroys you, knowing the council knew the condition we were living in and that we lost everything downstairs, and did nothing to address it." A council spokesperson apologised for not fully resolving the issue, but said multiple repairs had been carried out and the house had remained "habitable". Mrs Town said the repairs to the property in Thorpe on the Hill, where she had lived for 12 years before moving to East Yorkshire at the end of last year, had included replastering the living room five times after it kept becoming damp. "We lived in the bedroom for four years. The mental health [impact] from doing that in your late 40s and 50s – it's no good at all," Mrs Town said. "I'm not upset, I'm angry. They wouldn't live like that, so why did they expect me to?" Mrs Town said it had become a "running joke" with builders, plasterers and plumbers when they repeatedly visited the property to fix the same issues. "The council was sending plasterer after plasterer to rip off the walls and re-do them, without getting to the root cause of the damp and the mould," she said. She explained that the damp had caused the oven and fridge-freezer to break down and work surfaces to come away from the wall in the kitchen. Meanwhile, the carpet had begun to smell and it eventually had to be removed, leaving bare floorboards, she said. Mrs Town said she and her husband had to take their clothes to the laundrette and they had lived on takeaways and air fryer food - even having Christmas dinner in their bedroom. "It's enough to take a toll on anybody," she said. Mrs Town said that despite being in the top priority band for council housing and bidding for a new property every week, trying to downsize from their three-bedroom home, they were never able to secure one. She said they had taken things into their own hands in December and had moved to Hornsea in East Yorkshire, which she said was "not ideal" and had been an "upheaval". "I was suffering with chest infection after chest infection, and I just said I couldn't do it anymore. Anchor Homes offered us this one, so I took it," Mrs Town said. "We have lovely neighbours, but it is quiet, and I feel out of place at times. "Without a car here, you are cut off. Both our families [are in Leeds], and my friends are there." Mrs Town said the move had also meant the couple had to pay for further travel and accommodation when Mr Town had hospital appointments in Sheffield which he still needed to attend following a bleed on the brain eight years ago. She said Leeds City Council had been aware of Mr Town's health issues, which included a small stroke, loss of hearing and chest infections since the brain haemorrhage. "Any council should not get away with making people live like that. I am really angry with them. I want them to acknowledge what they've done," she said. Responding, a spokesperson for Leeds City Council said repairs were carried out on several occasions in an attempt to resolve the issue at Mr and Mrs Town's home. "Unfortunately, the root cause was not addressed, and the issue returned when there was heavy rainfall," they said. "The property remained habitable during the tenancy, although Leeds City Council apologise for not being able to resolve the matter fully." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North Leeds City Council
