Safety notices are being installed next to a children’s sand pit at Apex Park play area in Highbridge due to a colony of bees taking up residence.
A Somerset Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of masonry bees in the sandpit at Apex Park. There are explanatory notices as a precaution.”
”The advice is to leave them alone; they are non-aggressive and would rarely sting. Most are active foraging for a very short time. After about four-to-six weeks of activity, they disappear for another year.”
Masonry bees are beneficial insects and non-aggressive. They are generally smaller than the honey bee but similar in appearance. They are also similar in shape to, and sometimes confused with, wasps.
Like all bees, they are important pollinators of plants but unlike honey bees and bumble bees they have no workers and no collective nest, they are known as solitary bees.
The Masonry Bee will generally pay no attention to people and they are very unlikely to sting.
