STOMPer Dawn living in Clementi West Street 1 was shocked to see a great swarm of bees outside the window of her flat this morning (April 6).
She said:
"I had a very terrible shock when I entered my room after I bathed this morning!
"There were nearly a thousand bees outside my window, spreading four levels up from my floor.
"I'm curently living in Clementi West Street 1, and there is a Lift Upgrading Project conducted in my estate.
"There is the Clementi Woods Park nearby.
"I dont know what had triggered over 1,000 bees to come over to my place, and I got a terrible shock.
"I hope that the HDB or NEA can do something about this -- it has happened for the third time already!"
Related posts: Several beehives in overhead bridge leading to SGH (16th February 2009)
There are quite a few reports on STOMP about bee swarms in urban Singapore, as can be seen from these posts featuring swarms in Serangoon, Pasir Ris, Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Gombak, and Jurong West.
While the risk to human safety is definitely present, one wonders if it is ever possible for Singaporeans to adopt a more tolerant approach towards living with bees. After all, we don't have to contend with Africanised honeybees, unlike people living in the warmer parts of the Americas. It seems that the immediate reaction to any swarming behaviour or the discovery of any hive is to attempt immediate eradication of the colony. It is interesting however to note this particular dispute over the fate of a bee hive.
