Bee swarm drama

Yvonne Kirk, from Grangewood, said she and the children had to run for cover as the swarm, containing an estimated 500 bees, rose into the air from beyond the fence behind them, flew over the trees in the garden and started to ‘spike’ out as the swarm hovered overhead.

Shouting for the children to run, Yvonne said she had “never seen anything like it in her life before”.

Fortunately, the windows in the house had been closed, and even though she could see the garden from her kitchen window, it was still 12 to 15 minutes before Mrs Kirk had the courage to go outside again. Thankfully the unwelcome visitors had decided to buzz off.

“I noticed the bees at about 4.15pm. I had been listening to the humming, but I thought it was a motorbike because behind the house there is a parkarea and the young boys sometimes use it to ride their motorbikes, but the noise got louder and I knew by the sound it wasn’t a motorbike.

“I was in the back garden with my two boys Jordan aged nine and Dylan, who is three, and their friend Alana, and I thought to myself ‘this could not be a motorbike’. The noise I was aware of was close to my side and behind me, and at that the buzzing started to rise up in the air behind the fence. I had no idea where they came from, and when I saw them it was a massive swarm. The air was just black and they rose up above the fence about 12 to 15 feet and they swarmed into my gardenand flew over my birch tree,” Yvonne said, adding: “They appeared to be angry, because as they hovvered there they appearch to spike out, so I roared at the children to run and we ran up the garden and into the house. We shut all the doors in the house and luckily enough all the windows were already shut.”

Making their way back into the kitchen they watched and waited until they were sure the swarm had gone.

“We were shocked, I think the children were petrified and we were cautious about going out again. You could see the fright in the children’s eyes, and I am just so grateful that I was sitting with them. I didn’t know about the story of the dog being stung to death a couple of weeks ago until I said about the sawm to my neighbours and they told me. I am just so thankful the boys were with me,” the mother-of-two said.

Although the Council no longer had a dedicated department for this type of incident, members of the public are still welcome to contact the council for advice on swarming insects.

A Council spokespersona said: “The Pest Control Service was rationalised in April 2002 when it was decided by the elected members that it was not cost effective. There are no statutory requirements on Council to provide such a service, however, the Council’s Environmental Health Department continues to provide advice and assistance to individuals in relation to all pest queries.”