Bees Swarm Some Grand Bahama Communities, Create Worries

Two more residents reported on Monday that they couldn’t leave their homes for fear of swarming bees.

James Taylor, owner of Fidelity Construction and a local bee expert, told The Bahama Journal that the two new cases of bee invasion can be added to the many other times he has been called by Ministry of Agriculture and Grand Bahama Port Authority officials to address the problem.

"I’ve been called many, many, times before," Mr. Taylor said.

"I have done, in my judgment since the problem of the bees began about two years ago, just before the first storm, about 200 to 300 hives that I’ve destroyed for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the GB Port Authority," Mr. Taylor said.

Mr. Taylor said his name was on record as the one to call when Freddie Bosfield reported a bee problem to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Mrs. Bosfield, who lives off Sergeant Major Road, told The Bahama Journal her husband was stung in the back, neck and face on Saturday.

"Saturday morning, my husband went outside on the front porch; the bees swarmed around and [stung] him when he ran inside of the house," she said.

Mrs. Bosfield said her sliding door at the back of her house was filled with bees, and despite attempts to spray insecticide she was unable to get rid of them.

"They were like mad, like they wanted to break the door to come into the house," she said. "We were trapped in the house on Saturday, and [Sunday] and couldn’t get out."

Mrs. Bosfield said that the bees, which she estimated to be about 100, were still at her home on Monday.

She said officials from the Department of Environmental Health told her to call officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, who then referred her to Mr. Taylor because they didn’t have anything to use to kill the bees.

A gardener, who she calls "Rolle", was also stung several times when he came to work on the yard over the weekend, Mrs. Bosfield said.

Mr. Taylor also indicated that bees have been in the neighbourhood for about two years, probably living in an abandoned house, which is known to have a beehive.

Natasha Smith, another Grand Bahama resident who lives outside the area of Sergeant Major Road in Chesapeake Subdivision, said she was alerted to a problem when she heard an unusual sound on the outside.

"I was getting dressed to go to work when I heard a sound that I thought to be flies in the backyard, but I wondered why flies would be in the backyard like that," Ms. Smith said.

On inspection, she said she noticed the majority of bees swarming in the corner of her screen and patio, while others were flying about in other areas outside her home.

Mrs. Smith said she was concerned about going outdoors, so she called around for assistance.

"Everybody is just passing the buck as far as I’m concerned because I called Environmental Health. I called Pestco, but there wasn’t anyone who wanted to address the problem," she said.

Mr. Taylor said the bees are becoming a problem because they are entering into people’s homes through cracks.

"The bees are moving about with many enemies – birds, roaches, rats, frogs – which want the bees’ honey and the bees, and because of this the bees are looking for a safe spot to establish their colonies," he explained.

"Any little crack in the roof, or in the air conditioning unit, the bees hide from their predators, so they are now coming into homes and the residents have to come out."

Mr. Taylor said the government should assess the problem regularly to keep the bee population down.

He also said that some of the bees are smart enough to "catch a ride to the Bahamas."

Mr. Taylor said, "as a result the island has African bees, European bees, Canadian bees, which come here on ships."

He believes the cross breeding of the different types of bees is creating a more aggressive type of bee.

There have been reports about the deaths of two dogs recently, sparking concern that small children may also be at risk.

Melanie Williams, an officer in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, confirmed that there has been a marked increase of bees stemming from two years ago.

"Two years ago we had a major problem where many persons were calling and complaining of swarms of bees," Ms. Williams said.

Preliminary reports and assessments indicated that the bees might have been the African bees, which are aggressive in nature, but further testing was needed to confirm that, she said.

"There were talks to put some measures in place along with the GB Port Authority, and after the bees died down, it was thought that the problem had gone away," she said.

Now that there are calls again, Ms. Williams said she understands the fear having seen a swarm of bees herself.

She said the department has been referring persons to the various pest companies, as there is no one trained to deal with the problem.

Ms. Williams added, "But we are going to address the problem in terms of putting some measures in place to adequately deal with the bees."