Community's fury as beloved beehive for 40,000 bees vandalised

A LOCAL BEEHIVE has recently fallen victim to a vandalism attack.

Forgeside RFC's community garden in Blaenavon is home to a beehive that hosts 40,000 bees.

The hives were victims of a vandalism attack early last week, with the team responsible for the hives made aware of the incident within two days.

Forgeside RFC's beehive was vandalised last week (Image: Paul Williams) The team, led by head apiarists Jayne Ball and Anthea Williams, alongside Paul Williams, have been left furiously upset by the attack, especially as the garden is beloved by so many within the community.

According to Mr Williams, the vandalism was brought to the team's attention by a member of the community, and they believe it had been done with 24 to 48 hours.

He said: "People aren't aware that not only is this type of thing very harmful to the bees, but is also a really silly and dangerous act.

"Anyone who might have been around the hives during this time and got stung could have been seriously hurt as the bees will defend their hive.

"People need to realise that bees are a very important part of our lives."

Mr Williams posted the news of the vandalism to local Facebook groups on Wednesday, June 26, and was met with more than 80 responses of anger at the attack by residents, who use the  garden for cultivating and relaxation.

The beehive was left badly damaged by the vandalism (Image: Paul Williams) The weekend of the incident, the gardens had been used by the local Scouts troupe for a camping trip.

Mr Williams added: "Everyone is deeply annoyed at this vandalism, but we want to educate people, not punish them.

"As a consequence, our head apiarist Jayne has offered to go to local junior and comprehensive schools to give them advice on how and what the bees do and mean to us."

Ms Ball said of the incident: "If the kids would like to come forward and tell me that they did it, I will not point blame at you.

"Instead I will do the opposite, I can show you in the hive and educate you as to what they are doing and how to navigate them safely and the importance of why they are there.

"For now, the bees need time to repair the damage inside. And I need to try and educate the individuals who did this."