A large bee colony containing thousands of bees has been safely relocated from two properties in Ringland.

The hive, which contained around 15, 000 honeybees had been formed within a cavity of two adjoining Newport City Homes’ terraced houses in Edward German Crescent, Ringland.

Newport City Homes was carrying out roofline works when the large bee colony was discovered on the outside wall of the properties. Initially project surveyors believed the colony to be a wasp hive, but after discovering it was a large, healthy honeybee colony, the housing association contacted Gwent Beekeepers Association.

Newport City Homes’ senior project surveyor Mark Samuel commented: “We were renewing the fascia boards, soffits and rainwater goods to our properties when we discovered the nest.

“Newport City Homes recognises that bees are vital for pollination and a key species for our ecosystem. The hive was extensive and long established, and we wanted to ensure the colony were safely relocated.”

In order for Gwent Beekeepers Association to relocate the colony, contractor Mi-space, part of construction company Midas Group, had to partially remove the outer skin of the building.

Matt Howells, operational manager for Mi-space, said: “Newport City Homes is a long standing client of Mi-space. We are currently renovating 250 homes for NCH at the moment and during this project we came across the bees nest. It’s not uncommon to find nests in our line of work, but this is the largest we have ever encountered. Our team had to remove over 80 bricks from the outer wall of the building, in full protective gear, in order for the experts to access the nest, so quite an undertaking.”

Gwent Beekeeper’s Association were able to collect the vast majority of the bees within the nest, and they have been successfully moved to a new home in time for the winter.

Swarm liaison officer for Gwent Beekeeper’s Association, Andrew Knapp commented: “This was a really interesting bee removal for us. Russ Flynn (Treasurer, Gwent Beekeepers) and I have performed a lot of bee removals from buildings over the last couple of years but this was by far the most difficult. Because the bees had been within this site for more than five years, the nest was really extensive and hopefully everyone involved got to taste some of their honey! Removing a major part of a house wall is a drastic move so we have to congratulate Newport City Homes on recognising the importance of saving this colony.”