You know, as many of my friends have always said, when I fill them in on the latest chapter of my life... I should write a book because you just can't make this stuff up.
As some of you faithful readers might know, I'm the building manager at my loft community, after the previous jackass quit in a fit of pique over personal issues with the property manager. I volunteered, somewhat, to step in as the new liaison, with goals in mind to improve communication with the property manager and rebuild the community that was alienated by the passive-aggressive actions of previous personnel.
Anyway... this spring, we've been enjoying a very high honeybee swarm, due to the unseasonably sunny, warm weather during March and April, which would normally be mostly part of rainy season. We've seen the bees here before, they love to hide in the tiny holes in the lintels over each window, but there isn't enough space to set up shop. Eventually, they go their way or cease swarming and just become a minor annoyance.
On Friday night, I opened up my email to find a shot from the tenant from their window in what I thought was a shot of a hole near the top of the sash where they thought random bees were getting in, and what looked like a plant clinging and crawling along the lintel. Never mind there is no way a plant could do so... the resolution was just that indistinct. The email didn't say... OMG! There's a horde of bees outside! So I was like... huh. Interesting how they got that plant up there. Then, the next photo I saw in another email from a different tenant, the detail this time was much sharper. Holy moly...
Now, wild honeybees are facing extinction, and without them, we're facing an apocalyptic future. It's not just that the cost of honey would rise, but that the whole cycle of pollination, which aids the growth of much of our produce, would be jeopardized. So extermination wasn't an answer. Time to call in the experts.
Thanks to Google, the Blog for the Alameda County Beekeeper's Association popped up, and I was able to get some contact information, then a referral, for a local person willing to help us with the extraction. One of our tenants owns three "bucket" trucks, making access to the football-sized hive pretty easy, and then in about 30 minutes or less, 3,000 wild honey bees had a new temporary home and were on their way to a permanent hive in the backyard apiary of a local beekeeper.
I hope they live happily to pollinate lots of fig and Meyer lemon trees, jasmine and roses, and some local apples and cherry orchards! Who knew that becoming building manager would mean I'd have to keep the number for a beekeeper in my Rolodex.
As some of you faithful readers might know, I'm the building manager at my loft community, after the previous jackass quit in a fit of pique over personal issues with the property manager. I volunteered, somewhat, to step in as the new liaison, with goals in mind to improve communication with the property manager and rebuild the community that was alienated by the passive-aggressive actions of previous personnel.
Anyway... this spring, we've been enjoying a very high honeybee swarm, due to the unseasonably sunny, warm weather during March and April, which would normally be mostly part of rainy season. We've seen the bees here before, they love to hide in the tiny holes in the lintels over each window, but there isn't enough space to set up shop. Eventually, they go their way or cease swarming and just become a minor annoyance.
On Friday night, I opened up my email to find a shot from the tenant from their window in what I thought was a shot of a hole near the top of the sash where they thought random bees were getting in, and what looked like a plant clinging and crawling along the lintel. Never mind there is no way a plant could do so... the resolution was just that indistinct. The email didn't say... OMG! There's a horde of bees outside! So I was like... huh. Interesting how they got that plant up there. Then, the next photo I saw in another email from a different tenant, the detail this time was much sharper. Holy moly...
Now, wild honeybees are facing extinction, and without them, we're facing an apocalyptic future. It's not just that the cost of honey would rise, but that the whole cycle of pollination, which aids the growth of much of our produce, would be jeopardized. So extermination wasn't an answer. Time to call in the experts.
Thanks to Google, the Blog for the Alameda County Beekeeper's Association popped up, and I was able to get some contact information, then a referral, for a local person willing to help us with the extraction. One of our tenants owns three "bucket" trucks, making access to the football-sized hive pretty easy, and then in about 30 minutes or less, 3,000 wild honey bees had a new temporary home and were on their way to a permanent hive in the backyard apiary of a local beekeeper.
I hope they live happily to pollinate lots of fig and Meyer lemon trees, jasmine and roses, and some local apples and cherry orchards! Who knew that becoming building manager would mean I'd have to keep the number for a beekeeper in my Rolodex.
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