「なんだこれ、ミツバチが大量に飛んでる！」ある生徒が興奮気味に声をあげる。校舎脇の通路を進もうとした生徒は、ミツバチの大群に行く手を阻まれたようです。声を聞きつけその場に来た先生によって、それが「分蜂」であることを知ることになりました。
ミツバチは女王蜂が誕生すると、片方の女王蜂は約半数のはたらき蜂を連れて巣を出て行くそうです。これを「分蜂」と言い、新たに巣をつくる場所がみつかるまで、大群でかたまって過ごすそうで、今回本校はその場所に選ばれたようです。運良く私たちはお引越しの途中に遭遇したことになります。
さてさて、駆除されてしまうとおもいきや、そうはならず、誰が置いたのか「新居はここへ」と言わんばかりに木箱が設置されていたのが可笑しかったのでした。
“What on earth happened? There are tons of bees flying around!” one student exclaimed excitedly. The student, who was about to go down a passage on the side of the school building, found his way blocked by a swarm of honeybees. Immediately, teachers who heard the voice rushed to the spot. They informed the students that the bees were “swarmers,” which means bees moving from an old nest to a new one.
When a new queen bee is born, one of the queen bees in the hive will leave it with about half of the worker bees. This process is called “swarming.” It is said that the bees stay together in large swarms until they find a new hive location. We were fortunate to encounter the bees during the journey.
Most of us thought they would be exterminated, but they were not. Before we knew it, a wooden box was set up, as if to say, “Here is your new home.” The situation brought smiles to everyone’s faces.
