250,000 bees make Dewsbury police station roof their new home

The town’s police station has become a hive of activity as a quarter of a million of the industrious insects have made their home on the roof.

PC Richard Terry and police officer daughter Bethany are behind the project - they are beekeepers who make honey and sell it for charity.

PC Terry, 50, originally from Perth in Australia, runs Outback Beez and has hives at the Hollybank Trust in Mirfield and also at West Yorkshire Fire Service HQ in Birkenshaw.

They continue to add new hives but when the travelling between locations got a bit of a chore, PC Terry asked his bosses at Dewsbury Police Station if he could use the roof.

There are now six hives up there.

Two are above the cells area and are visible from the sergeants’ office and the Neighbourhood Policing Team office.

PC Terry said: “Beekeeping is just a hobby, it’s a great stress-buster after a hard day at work. And now when I finish at 4pm I just pop up onto the roof to check the hives. We’ve got 250,000 bees but my goal is one million bees in Dewsbury.

“Honey bees don’t die off, they survive as a colony,” said PC Terry. “They are one of the most productive creatures on earth, they all know their job and their role.”

Even in October bees are still collecting pollen and they travel up to three miles.

The Himalayan Balsam, an invasive plant which can be found extensively on the banks of the River Calder, is a favourite of the bees.

PC Terry said many people think Dewsbury town centre is barren but he added: “If you look from the rooftops you can see how much greenery, trees and flowers there are. Honey bees love trees and are the biggest pollinators.

“Albert Einstein reputedly said that if bees died out humans would only have four years left on earth. I don’t know if that’s true but bees are brilliant for the environment.”

Outback Beez has 25 hives and the Mirfield honey raises money for Hollybank Trust.

For more information on the project see www.outbackbeez.co.uk.