A Canadian beekeeper found herself in a nightmare situation recently when thousands of bees filled her shop. Call it an attempted robbery — the bees were trying to seal her honey. Christine McDonald, owner of Rushing River Apiaries in Terrace, B.C., said it’s the first time “robber bees” have ever tried to steal honey from her shop. While she has worked with bees for years and is comfortable around them, this situation actually frightened her. She didn’t know where they were coming from and was desperate to protect her honey. It turns out that the bees found their way into the shop through cracks in the shop’s older bay door. When a bee finds a good food source, it returns to the hive and does a “waggle dance” to tell other bees where the food is. After throwing tarps and lids over the equipment and products — managing to save most of it — McDonald said she ended up sacrificing her bathroom to trap the invading bees. She left the light on to lure the bees so she could collect and then release them. It took about 4-5 days before the bees finally stopped trying to return.
