Last Tuesday I noticed a swarm of bees buzzing around our garage door. The average person might find this scary, but that day, I was delighted. You see, back in April my son discovered a pile of dead bees surrounding the citrus plant on our back patio. As an avid nature lover, this upset me deeply! Had we somehow caused these fantastic pollinators to meet an untimely fate? Did the landscapers accidentally spray the backyard with harmful pesticides? Had our recent power washing efforts flecked bleach on a flower bed? After questioning several sources, we still had no clue why this happened.

We spotted a tornado of bees dancing on our garage like it was Studio 54 last Tuesday. I’d never seen anything like it; least of all in our backyard. So, I called a friend in the gardening industry and asked if he thought the swarm was a danger to us. He said, no, and that occasionally this time of year bees travel in packs to this or that spot but move on after a few days. A traveling spring break party for bees (which could explain the frenetic dancing) of sorts. Following his advice, we waited and waited for the bees to move on, eventually even shouting out the bartender’s directive, “you ain’t gotta go home, but you can’t stay here.” They did not listen. It was time to call in an expert.

Which (finally) leads me to the purpose of this post; to find a bee expert. Someone who could explain why, within two months, we killed and attracted hundreds of bees in our yard. It was also very important to our family that we remove the swarm in the most humane way possible. Our exterminator didn’t have the tools (and by that, I mean bee suits) to do this humanely and we already had too much bee blood on our hands from April’s unsolved incidents!

I found Brandon the “bee guy” through a trusted friend and he did not disappoint. A third-generation bee farmer, Brandon’s enthusiasm for bee conservation was palpable. There was genuine excitement in his eyes when he put his ear to the wall and concluded a hive was inside. Now, he needed to go back to his truck for the necessary equipment. This also did not disappoint. He pulled on a bright white space looking suit with full head and body covering and held a Jetsons’-style vacuum secured to a rectangular box. All I could think of was how much my kids were missing out on! Less than 10 minutes later, (with my permission) he cut into the sheetrock of the garage and pulled out a huge honeycomb. The bees went nuts. But then the queen was located and rescued, which is the most important part, and was safely vacuumed, along with her subjects, into the big rectangular box. He promised he would take them back to the bee farm in Houma where they could all live happy lives. He also promised me some delicious honey if I kept in touch! And those mysterious dead bees around my citrus plant? Brandon noticed there was a flood light directly above the planter and surmised that, when the bees were scouting our yard for a hive at night, they flew into the light and died. Yikes! We will have to rethink the placement of that floodlight.

It’s funny how we simultaneously hold such deep respect for and fear of particular animals. We desperately want and need bees on this planet. We know they make life better, but that still doesn’t mean we want them swarming in our yard. Should I have let nature take its course and seized this strange opportunity to create a mini bee farm? No. That makes no sense. So, I’m assuaging my guilt knowing that Brandon will help keep as many of them safe and productive as possible.

For safe bee removal and other helpful animal services call: Brandon’s Bee Removal Service at 504-460-5038