This picture taken on April 23, 2021 shows Ooi Leng Chye from the MY Bee Savior Association transferring rescued bees from honeycombs into a rattan basket in the parking lot of an apartment building in Kuala Lumpur. Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP
KUALA LUMPUR 鈥� Placing his bare hands into a swarm of thousands of bees, a Malaysian man uses his fingers to gently guide some of them into a rattan basket.
Ooi Leng Chye is a member of a group that saves bees and their nests when they are discovered in cities, seeking to prevent the creatures from being destroyed by those who view them as pests.
Bees play a vital role in ecosystems as pollinators of major crops, but their numbers have been falling rapidly due to habitat loss, pollution and pesticides.
The United Nations warns that 40 percent of invertebrate pollinators 鈥� in particular bees and butterflies 鈥� risk global extinction.
In Malaysia, green activists founded the 鈥淢y Bee Savior Association鈥� to help stem the decline.
When the group is tipped off about nests in areas such as under roofs and near trees, their volunteers try to carefully remove the bees and take them to new sites.
One of Ooi鈥檚 recent cases was in the car park of an apartment building in Kuala Lumpur, whose managers had reported a suspected nest.
In an empty space behind a wall under plasterboard, he and two other volunteers discovered half a dozen honeycombs and countless bees, a colony they believe had been there for months.
Wearing a short-sleeved shirt, trousers and sandals, Ooi 鈥� whose day job is as a software developer 鈥� was relaxed as he scooped up the bees with his hands into the basket.
鈥淚鈥檓 not afraid of them,鈥� the 48-year-old later told AFP as scores of bees buzzed around his uncovered face.
鈥淏ees only attack out of self-defense. They won鈥檛 attack you for no reason 鈥� you just need to understand their behavior.鈥�
Protect bees for 鈥榝uture generations鈥�
This picture taken on April 23, 2021 shows Ooi Leng Chye from the MY Bee Savior Association transferring handfuls of rescued bees from honeycombs into a rattan basket in the parking lot of an apartment building in Kuala Lumpur. Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP
On this trip, Ooi鈥檚 arms were stung about four times but he shrugged off the pain as 鈥減retty light鈥�.
Though his arms are covered in stings from previous expeditions, he only puts on a beekeeper鈥檚 suit when facing the most aggressive of the insects.
鈥�(With a suit), you won鈥檛 be able to be as gentle when scooping up the bees,鈥� he said.
After nearly two hours, almost the entire nest is collected, with a basket of bees wrapped in a cloth and net, and the honeycomb inside plastic bags.
All are taken to another volunteer鈥檚 house, where the honeycomb and bees are placed inside a makeshift wooden box, which becomes their new hive.
The group鈥檚 volunteers can handle about 10 cases of nest discoveries every day nationwide, acting on tip-offs from officials and the public.
The traditional solution in Malaysia had been to call the fire brigade, which has been known to torch nests and their inhabitants to a crisp to dispose of them.
Part of My Bee Savior Association鈥檚 work is to try to convince official bodies such as the fire service to deal with bees in a different way, said group chairman Norowi Hamid.
Norowi helped set up the group after the mid-2000s when many colonies in the US and Europe were wiped out by a mysterious scourge called 鈥渃olony collapse disorder鈥�.
He said it remains a challenging task to convince Malaysians not to be afraid of them.
But he added that 鈥渋f we do not manage the bees properly, then maybe one day (they) will not be here anymore.
鈥淭hen our future generations will curse us.鈥�
This picture taken on April 23, 2021 shows Ooi Leng Chye of the MY Bee Savior Association transferring rescued bees from honeycombs into a rattan basket in the parking lot of an apartment building in Kuala Lumpur. Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP