Live

Bee rescue in Northamptonshire village as 40,000 bees set up home in chimney

Follow our liveblog as the bees are removed
Bee rescue MawsleyBee rescue Mawsley
Bee rescue Mawsley

Our reporters Nish Kumar and Josh Widdicombe are on the scene of the recovery of 40,000 bees from a chimney in Mawsley, near Kettering.

Northamptonshire bee rescue

Key Events

  • Follow our reporters Josh and Nish on a very special bee rescue
  • The bees will be removed using specialist equipment – a type of bee vacuum – to keep them alive so they can be transferred to a safer place. 
  • Experts have been using scaffolding on the chimney to access the location where the bees were found by the homeowners. 
  • The vacuum has been attached to the top of the chimney. Once the expert are confident that they have removed most of the bees, a bricklayer will crack the top off to remove the honeycomb and any stragglers
  • The bees have been vacuumed out and now the honey comb will be extracted
  • Josh Widdicombe has dropped his phone down the chimney
  • Phone recovered - but covered in honey
  • Breaking news regarding chimney status
  • The ‘chimney’ is ornamental
  • The extraction has been safely completed
  • The Bees will now be transferred to the farm

Thanks for joining us today, have a wonderful Sunday

That's it for the live blog! The bees have been safely extracted and now are being taken to the farm for safe (bee)keeping.

The extraction has BEEn a resounding success

Our reporter has obtained a piece of the honey!

Josh Widdicombe with some of the honeycomb from the ‘chimney'Josh Widdicombe with some of the honeycomb from the ‘chimney'
Josh Widdicombe with some of the honeycomb from the ‘chimney'

Our reporter on the scene is aiming to obtain a comment from the extractors

The extraction is complete!

And most importantly has been handled safely

Josh Widdicombe on the scene of the bee rescueJosh Widdicombe on the scene of the bee rescue
Josh Widdicombe on the scene of the bee rescue

This is a huge step, as any remaining bees will follow the Queen 👑

The Queen Bee is in the box! 🐝