University Plant Operations maintenance workers and local news crews got a taste of UH homegrown honey as tens of thousands of bees were removed from behind a 40-foot high section of exterior wall at the Cullen College of Engineering on Wednesday.
Plant Operation’s environmentally conscious decision to preserve and relocate the colony to another spot on campus is a prudent one.
Bee removal expert and beekeeper Mike Knuckey removed the bricks surrounding the hive, pumped smoke into the hole and vacuumed the bees into a mesh-walled box.
According to Knuckey, who had been removing bees since 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, the beehive – which had probably been there for several years – housed anywhere from 80,000 to 100,000 bees.
"Based on the coloration and texture of the hive, it’s been up there for at least two years," Knuckey said. "I would estimate a good nine gallons of honey and honey comb were there, and the quality of the honey is excellent."
The infestation was noticed after dribbles of honey seeped out of the lower bricks and onto the edge of the building’s base.
Plant Operations decided that the bees wouldn’t be gone for long, though. They will be relocated to another part of campus.
So long as they don’t sting, the bees should be allowed to stay at UH to fulfill their integral role in improving and maintaining the aesthetic of the campus.
Because bees pollinate many of the flowers and trees around campus, Knuckey will make a beehive box for them to return to another part of campus.
"The whole area needs bees to keep the trees growing and flowers growing," Knuckey said.
The mysterious disappearance of honeybee colonies puzzling researchers across the nation this year, as reported in The New York Times, provides even more of an incentive for Plant Operations to keep the colony on campus.
According to the Times, more than a quarter of the country’s 2.4 million bee colonies have been lost – tens of billions of bees.
As researchers look for answers to the "colony collapse disorder," bee growers deal with concerns about the capability of the commercial bee industry to meet the growing demand for bees to pollinate dozens of crops for the food we eat.
So rather than bombing the colony with chemicals, it’s a good thing Plant Operations opted to preserve the colony and make the bees a mainstay at UH.
