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Beehive threatens residents’ safety

Two men and a dog have already been stung by bees living in a beehive at Palm Street, West Acres.

NELSPRUIT – A resident, his gardener and a pet had to get anti-histamine injections after being attacked by bees on Saturday.

According to Mr Koen Koekemoer, who lives in Palm Street in West Acres, he first became aware of the massive beehive in his neighbour’s yard in September. The beehive is in a mango tree in the garden and home to a big swarm of bees.

Fearing for his family’s safety, Koekemoer proceeded to ask the neighbour, if he was aware of the beehive. According to him, he was met with a don’t-care attitude.  The man said that no one wanted to remove the beehive and wasn’t prepared to take further steps.

Koekemoer offered to pay half of the removal costs, as he believed the hive endangered the lives of the surrounding residents. The neighbour, however, declined the offer.

On Saturday (December 28), Koekemoer was installing a new swimming pool pump, while his gardener was working in the garden. The next moment they were attacked by what looked like thousands of bees.

They fled into the house and had to close all the windows as the bees tried to follow them inside. The insects then swarmed over the garden for a time, before returning to the hive.

Koekmoer, his gardener and a Rottweiler dog were stung by the bees and had to get anti-histamine (or the animal medicine equivalent) injections.

Koekemoer, who is an attorney, wrote and hand-delivered an official letter to his neighbour stating that legal action would now be taken against him. There was no reaction to the letter and Koekemoer then tried to communicate over their shared wall. The neighbour, however, refused to talk and told Koekemoer to “prove it” before turning his back and walking back into the house.

Koekemoer is very concerned as the neighbour and his family regularly sit under the mango tree.

For Koekemoer, the next step is to get an expert to inspect the hive and determine how to remove it, hopefully before someone else is stung.

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