Escaped bees captured

A West Kelowna man’s phone has been ringing off the hook for him to come rescue swarms of bees all across the Okanagan Valley.

Last Sunday, Preston Hayden was tending to a beehive on his property in West Kelowna when 100,000 bees flew away.

“I am supposed to keep a close eye on it so I can split the hive and I didn’t pay enough attention and they swarmed on me,” said Hayden.

Over 200,000 bees were in his hive and he asked residents in the area to keep an eye out for the bees that would likely be flying in a tight group.
 
Since the story, he has become a bee whisperer. 

“I got a call from a gentleman who said they were just down the road from me so I went down there and sure enough they were sitting there still and they had little paint marks on them so I rescued them,” said Hayden.

Search and Rescue called him on Saturday asking him to rescue another swarm in the Rutland area.

“I drove down there and it was actually near a bunch of little children,” he said. “I had to do pretty risky maneuver to get up there and get those guys.” 

And again, on Sunday night he was driving to Penticton to rescue another swarm.

“I’ve been lucky the last couple times where I can get the hive underneath them and get the queen into the box and pull the box up and all the bees follow suit,” said Haynes. 

Hayden says he’s happy to be investing in something that is going to help the planet.