Bee swarm aims for tree

A 3,000-strong swarm of honey bees sent zoo keepers buzzing into action when they settled on a tree adjacent to the camel enclosure.

DZG Head of Media and Communications, Jill Hitchman said: “Thankfully, it was in a quiet part of the zoo at the end of the day and the bees didn’t head towards any animals.    “Staff alerted a local bee keeper who transferred the swarm to a container, enabling him to transport them off site.”          Bee keeper, Robert Cheswick, of Sedgley – pictured above – who moved the bees, said: “It was quite a large swarm, made up of honey bees, which I believe had relocated from somewhere fairly close.   “I snipped the branch off the tree, complete with attached bees and then transferred them to a container before taking them home.”   The operation took just over two hours to complete and the bees have now formed a nucleus colony in Mr Cheswick’s hives.