A WIDOW has been living with a colony of 200,000 BEES in her chimney for more than a decade.

Bee keeper, Sam Auger-Forbes, will be coming to the rescue of the desperate homeowner next week after she got in touch with him on Facebook.

Sam, 30, who lived in Rochford before moving to Suffolk in December, has estimated there to be more than 200,000 honey bees in a nine-feet honeycomb in the chimney of the home in Hockley.

He said: “This is the biggest colony of bees I have ever come across. The poor owner has had bees coming down into her house and through light fittings since they have moved in around 15 years ago.

Echo:

Nature - Sam owns private woodland

“She even told me about a time when she went away for a few days with her husband four years ago before he died, and came back to around 30,000 bees swarming around the living room.”

Sam owns SAAF Bees Premium Suffolk Woodland Honey and keeps bees in his own private woodland to produce honey.

Along with his four-year-old son, Harvey, Sam provides a swarm collection service and bee relocation.

Echo:

Buzzing - Harvey, four. Photo: Dave Amber Photography​

He will be tackling the hive, which is likely to take most of the day, next week. Scaffolding will be installed the day.

He does not charge for the removal of the bees but instead keeps them and relocates into one of his hives. They are removed by a special “bee vacuum”.

Sam told the Echo how the elderly lady had tried to seek help from several bee keepers over the years but could not help due to the scale of the job in terms of the amount of bees and where they are located.

He added: “Most bee keepers will go to a swarm in a tree or fence but if they are settled in a chimney or a wall or any other type of building it’s a lot more involved to remove them.

“Particularly with a chimney because it’s at height, The British Beekeepers Association doesn’t cover you to work on anything above two-metres. But I have my own insurance to work up high.”

Photo credit: Dave Amber Photography