Decade-old honeybee hive found at leisure centre

Stephen Sene from Sene Pest Control said it was the oldest hive he had come across in "over seven years"

A 10-year-old honeybee hive has been found at a leisure centre in Surrey.

While renovating an old pavilion building the team at Leatherhead Leisure Centre discovered the hive hidden inside two cavity walls.

Bee expert Stephen Sene, from Sene Pest Control in Rochester, Kent, said it was the "oldest hive I've come across in over seven years".

The bees are now under Mr Sene's care at his farm, where they have been split into two colonies.

Darren Pope, general manager at the leisure centre run by Better, said they were alerted when they "noticed an unusual number of bees flying around" the pavilion building.

Once thermal imaging confirmed that a large hive was between the walls, Mr Sene and a colleague began the process of safely removing the bees.

He explained: "We removed the queen bee first and placed her safely in a special bee cage.

"Then it's a case of removing the worker bees and dismantling the comb, which took around a day to complete. The work must be done slowly to avoid causing the bees any undue stress or harm."

Once removed, the bees were placed in quarantine for a couple of weeks to ensure that they were free from disease.

Mr Pope added: "We were sorry we had to disturb the hive after 10 years of peace, but we are grateful to Stephen and his expert team for their help."