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We all know for a fact that a bee stings, right? But did you also know that a bee can be sentenced to death?
Sometime in August 2019, a rare bee was sentenced to death by the United Kingdom (UK) government after it escaped from a family’s conservatory where it was hiding from.
The insect was identified to be a mason bee, particularly a species belonging to the osmia avosetta which can be typically found in Iran and Turkey. The Toy family who went on a summer trip to Dalman, Turkey a week before they spotted this stinger believes it may have tagged along their trip back home inside their luggage (a stowaway bee!).
Ashely Toy, 49, narrates that he discovered an unusual petal cocoon on the sofa. The next morning, his daughter Amelia, 19, spotted the culprit of the crime scene. Since then, they have been keeping a close eye on the criminal bee inside their home which busied itself by making nests from hydrangea petals.
However, experts have warned that this outlandish bee may pose a threat to other bee specimens. The British Beekeepers Association says that it may carry with it deadly viruses, or worse, overthrow the native bee colony by multiplying and outcompeting other species for food.
This also alarmed the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) who ordered the capture and destruction of the bee. That would’ve been a devastating end to this story, but this clever little insect has been revealed to have disappeared (it must have heard of its arrest order). Now, this stowaway has become a criminal on the loose as well!
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust stated that releasing a non-native species into the wild could be illegal. But having escaped, the Toy family could only do so much now that this cunning bee could be flying its way over the Big Ben or just happily making a new petal cocoon somewhere out there.
As of writing, no information has been provided with regards to this fugitive bee’s whereabouts. One thing’s for sure: bees sure do have a way of keeping themselves busy, even keeping people on its tail err—stinger.
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