Insects in the city

An intrepid Nature Seychelles team took a break from the country’s forests, wetlands and coral reefs and ventured into that most dangerous habitat, central Victoria, to transplant a bee hive from an abandoned building plot to the association’s gardens.

Located on undeveloped land next to Unity House, the hive was tucked between two ten metre girders, which had to be prised apart before the hive could be removed.
The difficult – and potentially dangerous – work of carefully cutting the hive off the girder and transferring it, the queen bee and all of the workers to a special “bee box” was carried out by Nature Seychelles volunteer and veteran beekeeper, Claude Regis “Dadi” Hoareau.
Mr Hoareau has already helped bring one hive to the Nature Seychelles Education and Environment Centre at Roche Caiman and yesterday added the second hive, next to the building in the Heritage Garden.
The new hive, which houses around 2,000 bees, will be included in presentations given by Nature Seychelles in the Heritage Garden.
The Heritage Gardens are a project coordinated run by the Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles, its partner NGO Nature Seychelles with the Department of Natural Resources.
The Heritage Garden project has been taken up by Wilidife Club members in Seychelles’ schools, who have planted and maintained small plots of traditionally used and culturally important food and medicinal crops.
Using the Heritage Gardens, Wildlife Club leaders have given their club members interactive lessons on the history, use and importance of the species grown and the gardens have also offered opportunities to experiment with agricultural processing, food production and even the sale of home-grown produce.
Seedlings for the school gardens have been supplied by Nature Seychelles and the Department of Natural Resources.
The conservation bug appears to be strong in Mr Hoareau’s family as his son, Camille, was part of the Nature Seychelles team which uncovered many of the secrets of the Scops owl, such as its nests and eggs, and now works as the island conservation officer on Denis.
The assistance of local volunteers, such as Mr Hoareau, is invaluable in adding to the skills base available to local conservationists and ensuring that a passion for environmental protection is spread throughout Seychelles. The Wildlife Clubs are calling on sponsors and donors to support the Heritage Gardens project.