Africa-Press – Zambia. So Zambian Football Social Media was “abuzz” yesterday with news that the game between Zesco United and Forest Rangers had been halted due to a swarm of bees descending on the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium.
Pictures were shared of the players, referees and ball boys ducking and going on the ground. One Picture that really trended though was off the bees swarming around a Black Bag.
People asked questions varying from whether someone carried the bees in the bag to what the bag contained for the bees to be swarming around it. All in all the appearance of bees in unexpected places is as times in some cultures attributed as supernatural.
With so many people asking and inboxing about the bees I decided to reach out to an expert on the matter. I contacted Beekeeping in Zambia and they were kind enough to respond to the querry and they explained why bees would land at Levy Mwanawasa and swarm a bag.
Here is the FULL Interview I had with them. Me: Morning, My name is Punch Chama and I’m a sports Presenter and a Zambian Football blogger and would like to pose a question.
There was a Zambian League football match that took place yesterday in Ndola and pictures have been circulating of a swarm of bees gathering around a Black Bag.
The question is why would bees gather around the black bag? Hope to hear from you. Regards Punch Chama Beekeeping in Zambia: Goodmorning. Thanks for your query.
First and foremost, bees are so important to our ecosystem are found on all the continents except cold areas like Antarctica. Bees help pollinate about 70 percent of the crops.
Most people know the bees because they produce honey but we can also get beeswax, propolis, pollen, bee bread, apitoxin, royal jelly, etc with medicinal benefits but so much under exploited in Zambia.
Now to respond to your query: bees as living animals reproduce and it is by splitting ( imagine a big village splitting because there is not enough land for farming for food, not enough land for building their house or they can even abandon the whole village due to hunger in the village, thieves terrorizing the village, etc.
Similarly either bees may abandon their home which we call a beehive or they split from the main group. In both cases, it will involve moving from one place to a new place looking for new sources of food, new home or safety/ peace (if it is people economic migrants moving from Africa in search of greener pastures or as refugees running from conflict to seek shelter or peace in another place.
Now as the bees move to another place, they may get tired and need rest. They will find rest anywhere. It can be in a car, in your garden, on a tree, bicycle, shop, hospital, I mean anywhere and anything they find along the flight route.
Once they take rest and in 1 -3 hours, they will leave the place peacefully. Bees on the move rarely sting unless provoked. Bees sting because they are defending themselves or their home (hive).
The bees will only be on the offensive or attack mode if where they are coming from someone disturbed or destroyed the home ( hive). So the bees on the bag that passed the stadium were in transit and decided to take a rest.
Bees are so intelligent that they cannot find a bag to be a home but resting while transiting. In such cases, contact an experienced beekeeper to get them.
Do not kill them as they are very important to our environment and give us sweet honey. So many farmers are keeping bees and make money by selling honey.
Do not associate bees with witchcraft or kill them. Yes, they will sting to defend themselves when provoked and human also defend themselves when provoked. Hope this answer will be satisfying and will be willing to clarify more. I am a beekeeper of 18 years experience.
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