SkyCity Convention Centre fire: Smoke could kill or leave 100,000 bees homeless

Thursday, 24 October 2019

A major fire at Auckland's SkyCity Convention Centre cast a think pall of smoke over central Auckland.

Smoke from the SkyCity Convention Centre fire could intoxicate a nearby rooftop beehive, possibly killing 100,000 bees.

The beehive, owned by bee rescue Bees Up Top, is located about 30 metres away from the fire on top of the Rydges Hotel.

The rooftops of Auckland's skyscrapers make for near-perfect conditions with ample sunlight and small chances of vandalism.

Jessie Whitfield was checking up on the bees on the Rydges Hotel rooftop, pictured here, just five minutes before the SkyCity Convention Centre fire started just 30 metres away.

Jessie Whitfield, who looks after 20 rooftop beehives in the CBD with husband Luke, said they were checking on the bees just five minutes before the fire started at 1.10pm on Tuesday afternoon.

**READ MORE:

Jessie Whitfield would check on the bees on Thursday afternoon. She had her 'fingers crossed' for their safety.

* SkyCity Convention Centre Fire: Live updates

* SkyCity fire: Stay away from Auckland CBD and out of toxic smoke

* SkyCity Convention Centre fire: How fire will affect your commute on Thursday

* Rental business for beehives re-homes swarms to city rooftops

* Notre Dame's bees sleep through cathedral blaze**

The bees from this hive were rescued from a busy road in Albany, after their queen was hit and killed by a car.

From another building, they saw smoke coming from the direction of the Sky Tower and immediately feared for the safety of the bees.

'If toxic smoke has gotten inside the beehive and got trapped, it's going to be really damaging to the bees,' she said.

She said the bees will always follow their queen, meaning if the queen decided to stay in the hive, all the bees may have perished.

'Wherever their queen is, that's where they are going to be.'

However, if the queen decided to leave the hive, the bees would be left homeless.

Whitfield said it was her belief the bees would have left the hive, but she was unable to go and check until Thursday afternoon.

The bees have been living on top of the Rydges Hotel since last year, when Whitfield rescued them from a busy road in Albany, on the North Shore.

The bees had swarmed around their queen, who lay dead on the road after being hit by a car.

'Their life started off in a hard way. They were doing really well up on the rooftop.'

Bees pollinated a third of the world's food, Whitfield told Stuff last year, and without them 'we'd basically be living on grains and rice'.

Whitfield said she 'had her fingers crossed' the bees would be safe - and there is hope. In April, about 180,000 bees slept were believed to have slept through the fire which destroyed the Notre Dame cathedral.

Confounding officials who thought they had perished, the bees clung to life, protecting their queen. It was believed the carbon dioxide in the smoke made the 'drunk' and put them to sleep.

The SkyCity Convention Centre fire was still burning more than 24 hours after it started on Tuesday afternoon.

At the height of the blaze, about 130 firefighters were working to gain control of the fire.