Living Green
Living with Bees
By Bryan Hayes
It was late in the afternoon on another sunny South Florida day. There was nothing out of the ordinary, and I was basking in the glow of the beautiful cloudless sky. It is one reason I really enjoy living here, especially when so much of the country has such inclement weather even this late into the year.
As I was standing there, a young man approached me. He looked almost nervous as he got near and finally he spoke.
“You’ve got a problem,” he proclaimed. “You’ve got bees!”
I looked back at him and smiled, “I have bees, but I don’t have a problem.”
He simply looked at me, questioningly. And I get that quite often, by the way.
I found having bees as being anything but problematic. We simply had an agreement. They didn’t bother me, and I didn’t bother them. I actually thought it was rather exciting to see these magnificent creatures on a daily basis. I did though get stung on several occasions, but always because it was my fault.
Being that they were close to the sidewalk, others were not quite as enthralled with the situation like the gentleman who seemed to think there was a problem, although he most likely does not understand how crucial bees are for sustaining life. Bees are very advantageous and rather critical to the overall ecosystem. It is estimated that 30% of our food is pollinated by bees, for example.
Bee populations, however, have steadily decreased over recent years sometimes at an alarming rate. This has a direct impact on our food supply. And it is one reason why I did not see them as being an issue.
How long I had these bees, I really do not know, but I did not want to exterminate them or have them exterminated. I called around but did not have any luck with finding a beekeeper that would be able to move them humanely.
That was until I found Sharon’s Garden Honey. They came to my residence, found the bees and began the relocation process. I was immediately awestruck, because I thought I had maybe 50 bees. Certainly that was all that I had seen. But, once they took the cover off where they were building the hive it was amazing to see literally thousands of them. They were living under ground where the water meter is located, and upon seeing them for the first time, I quickly realized that they had been quite busy and had been there much longer than I could have imagined.
As they started pulling out comb after honey comb out, I was more in more in awe of the process. There are so many beekeepers reporting dramatic reductions in bee colonies and here I was becoming an unknowing beekeeper, quite naturally without any assistance on my part. They flourished on their own, and luckily I found a service that relocated them humanely.
Ironically, I saw the gentleman again walking by on the sidewalk so I asked him if he had noticed that I no longer have my bees. He was certainly happy to know I had resolved my “problem.” And as I see it, I rectified a situation in a way that was for the betterment for all parties.
If you need bee relocation assistance, I highly recommend Sharon’s Garden Honey. Bees are a valuable, vanishing resource, so it’s a good idea to protect the bees we still see. Their phone number is (561) 718-1091. You can also find them on Facebook by typing in “Sharon’s Garden Honey” in the search bar.
Bryan Hayes is an actor, amateur photographer, business consultant and full-time lover of all things living. To check out more from Bryan Hayes, please visit his blog at:http://outofthehaze.wordpress.com/