Don't Worry, Bee Happy

Last week we had a beeg problem outside our house in Naples, Florida. A nest of bees had developed on one of the branches of the Southern Oak tree in our front yard. Frank from next door pointed out our 40,000 tiny new neighbors to me one morning as I was returning from walking the dogs (two Miniature Schnauzers). "You know you have a huge beehive in your tree?" He asked. Yes, isn't it cool? I love it. Delighted responses in my house also included, "Yay!" "The world needs more bees!" "I'm so glad they chose us!" "Pollination!" "Honey!" "They're great for the environment!" And the like. Because my family are nature lovers (and no one is allergic to bees), for a couple of weeks, our leave-them-bee stance pit us against many rest of the neighborhood.

Soon the neighborhood was a-buzz with concern about The Hive. The only conversation I was having with anyone outside of my family was bee-related. Well-meaning neighbors rang the doorbell. "Careful of the bees!" They texted my mom, "Did you know..?" They beckoned me whenever I left the house to let me know, "You have a huge beehive up there!" It was overwhelming: our neighbors preferred the sidewalk bee-free.

The worried remarks intensified last weekend when a large slab of honeycomb, heavy with honey (and bees) and no match for strong winds, fell just feet away from the sidewalk. This intensified the need to get rid of the hive. I'd been casually researching beekeepers to remove the hive humanely, but now the need was urgent. If we didn't get it done, someone was going to exterminate the bees. My mom gave me a day to figure it out, or she was going to have the property manager handle it.

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