Spring was particularly hectic for Hong Kong beekeeper Harry Wong. As flowers bloomed and the temperature rose, bees were busy restocking food and forming new colonies. It also marked the beginning of bee migration season, meaning the insects were more likely to appear in urban areas and come into contact with humans on their journey.
On a morning in late March, the 35-year-old had just finished work at his beekeeping facility when he got a notification on his phone. A volunteer from his bee rescue team informed him that someone had requested assistance concerning a large swarm near the window of a housing unit. It was urgent, they added.
Wong immediately contacted the rest of the team to see if anyone was close to the site and could offer help. But while he was waiting for replies, the volunteer sent an update: “No need, the relevant department has been contacted. They were in a hurry.
” The co-founder of conservation group Beetales was unsure what happened to the insects. His guess was the bees had been exterminated, per the usual practice of disinfestation services in Hong Kong. “I blame our slow reaction and our failure to widely disseminate information about protecting and not killing bees to the general public.
I feel saddened by this,” Wong wrote on Beetales’ Instagram account. The caption appeared alongside a photo of what appeared to be hundreds of bees congregating in a corner before being killed. A similar situation happened several weeks later.
Wong once .