Latest news with #beekeeper
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Bike belonging to missing West Coast man Roy Arbon found
Roy Arbon pictured riding from Runanga to the Mt Davy area on 23 July 2025. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police Police have found a bicycle belonging to missing West Coast beekeeper Roy Arbon. Arbon, 75, has been missing since he set out on a walk up Mt Davy to Mt Sewell near Greymouth last Wednesday. He was captured on camera riding from Runanga to the Mt Davy area. A police spokesperson said Arbon's bike was found on a nearby trail and search teams were out again despite poor weather in the area. "Our teams remain committed to the ongoing search," they said. "Roy's red bike was located on Rewanui Road and we continue to ask anyone for sightings of Roy the morning of 23 July. He was heading from Runanga to the Mt Davy area on his bike." Roy Arbon. Photo: Supplied Arbon has a storied past including helping to recover bodies [. following the Erebus air disaster in Antarctica in 1979] and the bodies of people killed at Cave Creek in 1995. He was later acquitted of cocaine smuggling charges in Western Australia after falling prey to [ an international drug scam. Anyone with information that could help police is asked to contact them via the 105 service, referencing file 250725/2139.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
I was terrified of bees – until the day 30,000 of them moved into my house
As a child, I was allergic to bees. Just one sting on my fingertip could swell my whole arm. I was allergic to most things – dust, cat hair, pollen – and was always clutching an inhaler, sniffling into my sleeve and keeping a safe distance from stinging insects. As an adult, when my family bought our first house, a mid-century gem nestled in thick bushland on Sydney's Northern Beaches, I wasn't expecting a visit from my former nemesis. But one warm spring day, we heard the unmistakable hum of 20,000 of those honey-producing insects. 'Bees!' I shouted, as a large dark ball headed straight towards me and my baby girl. Terrified, I grabbed her and slammed the patio doors just in time. The swarm broke apart in the air and the buzzing became thunderous. I later learned that bees swarm when their current hive becomes overcrowded. Once the swarming instinct is triggered, scouts head out to find a new location and the old queen and her worker bees fly off to their new, less cramped abode. The bees left behind will then raise a new queen. During renovations we discovered masses of old honeycomb and dead bees in the ceilings and walls of our home; the swarm was likely attracted to that scent. As tens of thousands of bees squeezed into the wall cavity of our living room, my first instinct was to call a beekeeper. Bees are a precious creature – vital for pollination, food security and a healthy ecosystem. Unfortunately, the beekeeper couldn't help. 'Once the bees are in a wall, they're very difficult to extract,' he said, before hanging up. I called another and another, until eventually I resorted to pest control. We sealed the entry points along the wall and hoped another swarm wouldn't find its way to us. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Years later, one did. We had just returned home from a stint in Singapore when I heard the familiar buzz of bees announcing their arrival. This swarm was big – 30,000 strong – and they quickly pushed their way into the walls and our stairwell cavity. I tried again to find a beekeeper to guide us, desperately searching the internet for local beekeeping associations; I couldn't stomach calling pest control again. This time, we found the right person – a young beekeeper who arrived on our doorstep an hour later with his gear and beekeeper suit. First, he set up a lure outside – a bait hive, filled with old comb and a few drops of lemongrass oil, which mimics a bee pheromone and can entice a swarm to move. He put up a ladder and placed the wooden box near the entry point to the wall, hoping the queen and her workers would leave our property and set themselves up in the bait hive. Over the next week, we waited and watched and hoped. Unfortunately, the bees did not budge. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion Plan B (bee?) was to entice the swarm from closer range. By now, the bees were already building comb and storing honey in a small cavity above the stairs, preparing to rear eggs and larvae. The beekeeper convinced us to let him cut a hole in our floor; he then placed the box directly on top of the hive – right in the middle of our living space. We got on with our daily lives, cooking, watching TV, working … all the while cohabiting alongside thousands of bees. Occasionally, one would pop out of our air conditioning unit or get confused on its pollen route and fly through an open window. But for the most part, they were excellent housemates. Living with the constant low hum of bees and learning more about their behaviour and habits from the beekeeper, my fear and anxiety began to dissipate. I stopped using insect spray and instead, transported the lost bees back outside on a piece of paper. I wasn't once stung – they seemed to sense I wasn't going to harm them. Weeks later, we were finally ready to move the bees to greener pastures – a farm where the beekeeper already kept established hives. He confessed it was the most difficult hive removal he'd ever done. It took several 20-litre buckets full of honey and comb, a lot of smoke to calm the bees down, and some escapees, but he managed to save two-thirds of the hive. Once the bees were gone, the house felt too quiet. Wax moths came to clean up the leftover beeswax and pollen. Spiders came to eat the wax moth and larvae. We repaired the floor. Every spring, when the air starts to lose its chill and pollen makes me sneeze, I keep watch for scout bees and make a very important phone call. The beekeeper answers: he'll be round with a bait hive to lure the bees away from our walls, should they come to visit. So far, so good. Pip Harry is an author. Her latest young adult novel, Drift, inspired by her experience with the bees, is out in Australia on 30 July (Hachette Australia, $17.99)
BreakingNews.ie
20-06-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
People flee in fright as giant ball of bees swarm traffic lights in Limerick City
Limerick City and County Council said it was investigating how best to deal with a swarm of bees that engulfed a light shrouds at a pedestrian-crossing junction in Limerick City Centre on Friday. The bees are understood to have swarmed the pedestrian lights to follow and protect their queen. Advertisement Some have suggested the Queen and her swarm took up residency at the light structure after being possibly discommoded from their hive following a thunder storm overnight. Persons were reported to have fled in fright when the swarm grew into a giant ball of bees Friday afternoon. The swarm is located at the junction of Catherine Street and Roche's Street. A passerby said: 'People were enjoying their coffees and the fine weather outside the cafes on Roche's Street and then everyone was going bananas, because inside on the lights there is a queen bee and the bees are all swarming inside it. Advertisement 'Everyone was avoiding the bees on the street - it was nuts. It's at the junction of Catherine Street and Roche's Street.' 'Once they are swarming around the Queen they won't harm you, so to speak, as they're too engrossed in the Queen, but if you go up to them and start annoying them then you might be in trouble, but that would be your own fault,' the man said. Ireland Man who drove with Lidl manager on car bonnet afte... Read More 'I believe a beekeeper is being called, I literally saw people running away scared and screaming, it looks like something out of a movie. 'A lot of motorists were stopping in traffic looking at it and all their windows were being wound up because the bees could, I suppose, get into your car. A spokesman for Limerick City and County Council said: 'We are assessing the situation to decide what action needs to be taken.' A Council spokesman said the Council had also reported the matter to - an online resource to contact a beekeeper which describes itself as 'Ireland's honeybee rescue network'.
CBS News
20-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
North Texas beekeeper turns to politics to save bees, launching campaign for Texas Agriculture Commissioner
Beekeeper turns to politics to save bees, launches campaign for Texas Agriculture Commissioner Beekeeper turns to politics to save bees, launches campaign for Texas Agriculture Commissioner Beekeeper turns to politics to save bees, launches campaign for Texas Agriculture Commissioner A North Texas man who has made a fortune off of honey is turning to politics to save the creatures that made him rich. This could be the worst year in recorded history for honey bees, which are dying at an alarming rate. It has the McKinney man who started what's become the most popular brand of honey in America now running to become the next Texas Agriculture Commissioner. Fifteen years ago, what started as a hobby for Nate Sheets turned into an empire. "I wound up buying a beehive and just fell in love with it," Sheets said. Nature Nate's Honey, which was born in McKinney, now has around $4 million in annual sales. But the 55-year-old founder said he has always valued producing a healthy product over making money when he created the first line of raw and unfiltered honey. "So I started testing all the honey for herbicides and fungicides, the pesticides that C3, C4 sugars, which is like corn syrup. Started testing for the biotics because bees get sick, just like people do," said Sheets. Sheets now has concerns for the health of honeybees. "Sixty-two percent of all the bees in Texas, and really across the United States, have died over the past 12 months," said Sheets. "The bees are sick, but so are Americans. You know, almost the same statistics. Sixty percent of Americans have one chronic disease or more. We've got to change something. And I believe those are things that are directly related to what we eat." Bee colonies like these have been vanishing at an astonishing rate across the US, according to experts. Thirty-five percent of the world's food crops depend on bees for pollination. That concern is one of the main reasons Sheets said he wants to become the state's next agricultural commissioner. So much so that he resigned from the board of his company two weeks ago to launch a bid. Sheets will run against incumbent Sid Miller, who did not respond to our request for comment on his opponent. The campaign, Sheets said, will focus on a promise of cleaner food products and nature-conscious agriculture. "It's an extension of what RFK and others are doing in Washington, D.C. right now," said Sheets. "I mean, they're focused on processed foods and food dyes and things like that." Things that Sheets said he didn't need to become successful. Miller told CBS News Texas he welcomes Sheets to the race. "I welcome Nathan Sheets to the race and I appreciate his strong financial support for my reelection campaign last year," Miller said in a statement. "I am excited about the opportunity to discuss my proven record of conservative leadership, my strong working relationship with President Donald Trump, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins..."
CBS News
19-05-2025
- CBS News
Swarm of bees kills Texas man while mowing lawn
A swarm of bees killed a Texas man while he was mowing a lawn, according to police. The Eastland Police Department said officers were dispatched to a crash in the 700 block of North Lamar St. on the evening of April 27. As officers approached the vehicle suspected to be involved in the crash, they noticed the driver was being swarmed by bees. To avoid being stung further, EPD said officers helped the driver get into a police vehicle. Once the driver was in an ambulance, EPD said he stopped breathing. He died at a local hospital. EPD said officers called a local beekeeper to help figure out where the beehive was located – officers said it was found in an abandoned structure near where the man was mowing. The beekeeper safely removed the hive from the structure, according to EPD. Eastland is about 97 miles west of Fort Worth.
