Guelph beekeeper called to help with Burlington bee emergency

Michael Barber had his hands full yesterday after 5 million bees being transported in a trailer toppled over after the driver swerved to avoid a deer. Barber, a local beekeeper, was one of many called to help collect the bees on Guelph Line in Burlington.

He got the call from Halton Police Services Wednesday morning at around 7 a.m. Barber didn’t know what he would be walking into.

**UPDATE**
Thanks to the overwhelming response from beekeepers coming to help we expect the scene to be clear in approx. 30 mins.
The majority of the bees have been safely collected and crates will be hauled away. https://t.co/rCT0Hyyt4U

— Halton Police (@HaltonPolice) August 30, 2023

Barber is the founder of Tri-City Bee Rescue which relocates bees, usually on a smaller scale.

He said he felt under-prepared. Part of why it was so nice so many beekeepers showed up was because everyone had at least some gear in their vehicles, Barber said.

“We were happy to get the call. We're happy now that we're in the directory for any of the first responders that get a bee issue,” he said.

He brought along a fellow beekeeper, Richard Ince from Speed River Bees, to help out. Barber and Ince had planned to check out some hives that day.

“The beekeeper on site didn't have proper PPE. He didn't have a full suit or anything like that. So we just grabbed our extra beekeeping supplies and beekeeping suits and gloves and just, you know, jumped in the truck and got down there as quickly as we could,” said Barber.

When they arrived, Tristan Jameson, the beekeeper who was driving the truck and trailer of bees had already been stung about 100 times. 

Barber and Ince couldn’t convince Jameson to sit down. “He felt so obligated to clean up a mess that he felt was his fault. I really don't blame him at all,” said Barber.

It’s just an accident, he said.

“On a nectar flow, a good portion of the bees would be outside of the hive,” said Barber. The difference here was that the bees were thrown out of their hives, he said.

They were trying to find their hive, their family and “these bees were looking for someone to blame,” Barber said.

The beekeepers on the scene picked up equipment, putting all the boxes and skids back on the trailer. 

“And as soon as everything was collected that cloud of angry bees kind of just descended on those boxes. And it was just like this weird silence. You were just so used to the buzz, and then all of a sudden it was gone,” Barber said.

It took about four hours for the job to be completed.

As much as this situation is bizarre and a bit comical, it’s also sad. Many bees were squished by passing cars before police could close the roads.

“I really feel for the beekeepers involved," said Barber. The pollination contracted beekeepers were moving the honey bees out of pollination. These bees are used to help farmers grow food.

“I don't know what contracts they may have lost because of the potential loss of these hives. It's a hit for them financially. It's a hit for them emotionally. I really feel for them,” he said.

After the job was done the beekeepers took a deep breath, finished their coffees, and socialized a bit before they remembered they all had their own hives to get back to.

There is no way of knowing how many bees were saved. 

“I would say that those hives are doing fairly well,” said Barber.

“In the transportation of those hives it would have been mostly the foragers. So mostly the older bees that flew up in the panic because the older bees are the ones that are going to defend the hive so I think the brood and the queens are more than likely still in the hives,” he said.

Catch hives were set up for the evening on Wednesday because sometimes foragers bees will spend the night in a flower and later try to make their way back to the hive.

“Just like teenagers, they go out and they don't know how long they've been partying on nectar and mead,” said Barber.

“We’re just really happy with how everybody worked together and how everything went as smoothly as it could have possibly gone and that nobody was seriously injured."