Beekeepers come to the rescue thanks to Facebook group

FOR a little over a year, the Bee Rescue: Geelong, Bellarine, Surfcoast & District Facebook group has been helping rescue and remove bees by connecting the general community with beekeepers.

The Facebook group is a platform where members can report and ensure the safe collection of bee swarms and feral beehives.
It connects the general public, without the knowledge or skills to remove hives or swarms, with beekeepers.

In a little over a year the group has grown to almost 1000 members and facilitated many hive removals and bee rescues.

Founder of the Facebook group, Fav Seriously, said he created the group because he saw a general lack of beekeeping knowledge among the general public, particularly when they were faced with rogue hives or swarms of bees.

“I was seeing all these post on the local community pages, and people would say ‘I’ve got a swam of bees’ and no one would know what to do, and some of the advice they were getting was generally well meaning but incorrect,” Mr Seriously said.

“The problem is unless you’ve had a bee issue before or you’re a beekeeper, it’s just one of those things, until it lands on your doorstep you’ve got no idea where to go.

“And I was thinking, there just needs to be a place where people can contact beekeepers. So that was the idea of our page, just to get a point of contact using social media. To make it simple.”

Mr Seriously said as soon as he started the page it received astounding interest and support from both beekeepers and the general public.

“When I first made the page I thought there might be half a dozen people interested, but it’s just taken off,” he said.

Mark Reeves, who began beekeeping as a hobby and has since begun studying a Cert 3 in beekeeping at the Tocal Institute of NSW, said he has been using the Facebook page for about two years and has since helped removed numerous swarms.

“Some out of a wine barrel … some out of a 20-litre oil drum, that hive had been there for 20 years, some out of an old couch, a hail bailer, and a grass cutter, both agriculture machinery,” he said.

“A farmer’s hay rack, a child’s stroller, roof and wall cavities, trees, a possum box, a Telstra box in the ground, and a chimney — they’re just some of the swarms that made themselves at home that I found via the Facebook site.”

Mr Reeves said most of the beekeepers on the site are passionate about beekeeping, and there is a focus on educating the public and newer beekeepers.

“A lot of the swarming comes down to people not understanding how to look after their bees … beekeeping is becoming increasingly popular and if people could learn more about bees before getting bees it would be great,” he said.

“It’s really all about the bees.”

For those interested in joining the group or reporting a swarm or feral hive head to https://www.facebook.com/groups/809538203147190 to find out more.