Here’s Why Thousands Of Bees Have Been Swarming In Ta’ Xbiex
A video which was uploaded to Facebook yesterday shows thousands of bees swarming around a tree in Malta. The problem, the user said, was that it was right in the middle of the Ta’ Xbiex promenade, a mere couple of steps away from the main road.
“It doesn’t seem like the safest area for them so I was slightly concerned for them,” the man, Niki Caruana, said. “My first reaction was that someone was transporting a few hives in a van and one of them fell out,” Niki said, “but i couldn’t see anything in the road. I had never seen anything like it, not in such a built up area anyway.” Also, stumbling right in the middle of thousands of bees in the early morning might be at the very least slightly disconcerting. The truth, however, is that there’s absolutely nothing to be scared of.
“It looks like you’ve stumbled upon a swarm of bees,” one of Niki’s Facebook friends explained. “They’re most likely looking for a new hive, in which case they’re very docile, despite the angry noise.” In fact, while this might look like an uncommon sight for many, it’s still a very regular part of bees’ natural life cycle.
Bee migration is clearly very cool to witness. As another user explained, it happens when the Queen leaves the hive to form a new one. Of course, the migration could also be a case of the bees dividing the colony (with the process being very similar). Half the bees would be moving home and on their way to a new hive, hopefully being able to find a safe spot of their own. As Niki explained, the problem with the location is that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of suitable (and safe) places for a new hive.
Over the last couple of years, the importance of bees has constantly been stressed upon, and it has often been said that bees are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat. This means the conservation of bees is extremely vital, so here’s hoping these guys managed to find a safe new home. Remember; there’s a very big (and important) distinction between these guys and the actually dangerous hornets.
Amidst the mixed reactions of Maltese people on Facebook (anything from “aww” to “oh sweet God no please take it away from me”), the slew of lame bee puns was inevitable. “Crimes are up in Sliema,” one person said. “The myst be planning some sort of sting operation.” We could almost hear the faint ba-dum-tss in the background.
Although, as one keen eye pointed out, there might just be one safe place for the bees to migrate to… Pilatus Bank’s empty safe just across the road.
Lovin Malta reached out to Niki Caruana to get some more information on the whole experience. “I’m not really scared of bees, so when I realised I was in the middle of it and had a few landing on me, I wasn’t really panicked,” he said. “They were very docile and I didn’t get stung, but I didn’t want to stick around there for too long.”
A representative from the Ta’ Xbiex Local Council got in touch with Niki a few hours after he posted a video, because they had gone to look for the swarm and didn’t find anything. “I guess they had already moved on by then,” Niki said. Here’s hoping they found a safe place to relocate.
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