In Cape Town, Lourens Kruger and his son Dylan have made a mission of rescuing wild honeybees that set up home in the wrong place, Africanews reports. Since founding the Cape Honeybee Conservancy in 2018, they have safely relocated more than 250 colonies from roofs, houses, walls and trees.
One recent call-out saw them carefully move around 40,000 bees out of a cement garden ornament. Rather than destroying unwanted swarms, the pair take the colonies to six bee-friendly conservancies they have set up on farms outside the city, including a site in Elgin about 90 minutes away that now hosts nine of their translocated hives.
The Cape honey bee is not classed as threatened, but it faces growing pressure as the city expands. Bee specialist Mike Allsopp estimates there are millions of wild colonies across greater Cape Town, mostly living unnoticed and harmlessly. Their work matters well beyond the hive, since the bees pollinate both crops and the region’s rich indigenous flora.
Source: Africanews