A colony of bees discovered at Expo 2020 Dubai has been successfully rescued and relocated as a result of the World Expo’s commitment to sustainability. Expo 2020 worked closely with the Beekeepers Association to safely remove a swarm of Apis mellifera bees – a honey-producing species uncommon in the UAE – from its pesticide-free site in Dubai South. Daily headlines from the UAE and around the world brought to you by Gulf News. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/videos
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00:00In November, we received a call, or we received a notification, us being the sustainability
00:07and the environment team at Expo 2020, from a team on site saying that they have found
00:12a swarm of bees on the sustainability pavilion plot, and they have nested on the steel rebar
00:20within the plot.
00:21So immediately as soon as we received that notification, and they sent us some pictures
00:25and videos, so we immediately contacted the Beekeepers Association and told them about
00:29the beehive that we found on site, and whether they would be able to come and rescue the
00:35beehive and transfer them into a safer place.
00:38So I took all the gears and all the equipment needed and went on site.
00:45So we found it was a swarm of bees that was wrapped around steel rebars.
00:55It was a very tricky situation, not an easy, straightforward removal.
00:59They were completely wrapped around them, so I needed help, and I was by myself.
01:07So I asked for some help around, and a brave worker just raised his hand and came and volunteered.
01:16The removal itself went very smoothly.
01:20We were able to scoop the bees and place them in a card box that was provided by the
01:27workers over there.
01:29And soon we noticed that the bees were starting to fan their little wings, which is an indication
01:38that the queen was captured and was inside the box.
01:41And these bees were informing their little sisters that the queen was there, so that
01:46should all move there.
01:48So we didn't have to do much work afterwards.
01:52The bees just went by themselves inside the box.
01:56So the whole process took maybe 45 minutes, and when all the bees were inside that box,
02:03we just securely taped it and closed it and moved it to our bee garden.
02:11It was not a wild bee.
02:13It was what we call apis mellifera, which is a bee that can be kept, that can be managed
02:19in a hive, in a beehive.
02:23Usually when we are called for rescuing, we get those Arabian dwarf honeybees, which are
02:29wild bees that cannot be kept in a box.
02:32But this time it was the other type of bees.
02:35So it was, I would say, a large swarm, about, I'm not quite sure, but 30,000 bees inside.
02:47So the bees were in a transition flight.
02:54They were not settled yet.
02:56They had not had the time to build their honeycomb.
02:59So that's actually why it was also very tricky.
03:03Usually when you have a comb, they gather around it and you just take that comb and
03:07place it in a box.
03:08When they are loose, it's a bit more tricky.
03:12So what we do is we spray them with sugar water, a solution of sugar water, so they're
03:18sticky and they don't fly all around, and it's easier to scoop them.
03:23So the bees now are settled.
03:24They are in our bee garden in the sustainable city.
03:28They're growing.
03:29They at least doubled in size.
03:32They produce a lot of eggs and babies and a lot of honey, which is a good indication
03:37that they're happy where they are and they're absolutely thriving.
03:42When we informed the expo team, the sustainability team, that these bees are the type that we
03:49can actually keep in a hive, they were very enthusiastic about the news and offered to
03:57adopt those bees and keep them in our bee garden.
04:00I was really happy and very impressed by really their commitment to sustainability.
04:06It was a very good sign that the bees that we rescued actually landed in the sustainable
04:11pavilion, and the fact that they adopt the bees really shows their commitment to their
04:19mission and their objective.
04:22Rescuing the bees is just one small example and initiative of a bigger picture that Expos
04:292020 Dubai aims to deliver when it comes to sustainability.
04:33As you know, sustainability is one of our sub-themes in Expo 2020 Dubai, and it's our
04:38key focus.
04:39Therefore, we have different initiatives across the site to ensure that we follow or we work
04:44towards achieving our vision, which is hosting one of the most sustainable world expos in
04:48history.
04:49Now, of course, as I said, rescuing the beehive is one example of the different relocations
04:54and rescuings that we've had for different kinds of fauna around the site.
04:57This is before we begin construction on site and to date, so all of the teams on site are
05:02aware of the process that we need to follow if we happen to encounter or find any kind
05:08of fauna or flora on site, and what do they need to do in order to make sure these fauna
05:13are transferred into a safer place.