LNPS saves eco school bees

London Network for Pest Solutions (LNPS) stepped in to save some masonry bees at an East London eco school after staff assumed they were wasps.

LNPS regional manager Michael Bailes attended the call out to St Luke’s CEVA Primary School in Newham and immediately identified that the wasps were masonry bees.

Masonry bees (or solitary bees and sometimes known as mortar bees) rarely sting as they are solitary insects and not territorial, due to having no hive or queen to defend.

Masonry bees can often be mistaken for wasps due to their small stripes, but they differ greatly from wasps. The males are completely harmless as they have no stinger, while females do but rarely use it unless severely provoked.

Even if they do sting, it’s described as nearly painless; feeling similar to a mosquito bite. These friendly bees are also exceptional pollinators, often considered up to 100 times more effective than honeybees. This makes them well worth protecting.

Despite travelling alone, if the bees find a good spot several will nest in the same location. This is what happened at the school after the bees made tiny openings in a wooden toy store in the school grounds to establish their new home.

When Mr Bailes discovered these exceptional bees in this unusual location, as they normally prefer to use masonry (hence their name), he knew it would be ethically wrong to disturb or treat them.

After brief discussions with the school the options of treatment or blocking holes were discussed but, on the recommendation of Mr Bailes, it was decided the best course of action was to simply leave them be.

Mr Bailes assured the school that the bees were low risk and the eco-rated school was soon on board. Staff agreed to temporarily stop using the cupboard and let the bees complete their life cycle.

“I was so pleased to be able to save these precious bees,” Mr Bailes said. “Our approach is always to put ethics and the environment before profit and this is a great example of doing just that. We hope that by being ethical like this, when there is a real pest problem the school will turn to us for help.”

LNPS then took it a step further to help the school and protect the bees by providing some bee hotels free of charge.

The boxes with special openings are designed to encourage the solitary bees to use them as nesting sites, rather than the store cupboard. Michael personally delivered the bee hotels to the school which were delighted to receive them.

St Luke’s headteacher Matt Hipperson said: “St. Luke’s would like to thank Paul Cooper, Mike Bailes and all at London Pest Solutions for dealing with an infestation of bees in an environmentally caring way.

“They came up with the solution of relocating them rather than exterminating. Exterminating would have been easier but would have harmed the environment. In a busy world this was unexpected but really pleasing.”