City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/510169
www.urban-forestry.com 21 At Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens in Naples, Florida, we have had many feral bee hives appear in our large trees and snags that are left in nat- ural areas for local wildlife. This requires a balance—we want to provide habitat for local nesting birds but be mindful of the possibility of feral bees making a home as well. If a feral hive is found in a location away from animal areas or public areas, we will leave it be and monitor for reduced activity. However, if the feral hive is in close proximity to a playground, main visitor path- way, or animal/staff area and the bees appear to be negatively impacting the animals or public, we will call a licensed and state registered vendor to have the feral hive removed. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services recommends that feral honey bees found nest- ing in proximity to areas where people and domestic ani- mals frequent be removed or eradicated by a licensed, insured, and trained PCO (Pest Control Operator) or safely removed by a beekeeper registered by the state of Florida. One major issue for the Naples Zoo is that the hives are usually in a location that cannot be easily accessed by a local beekeeper. In one instance, we enlisted the help of our tree care company for assistance; they donated the use of their lift to get to the hive for removal. In another case, we had a feral hive in a swamp preserve area adjacent to our giraffe exhibit. These bees were aggres- sive toward the giraffe and staff working around that Feral hive on sabal palm (Sabal palmetto) tree • Photo by Jeff Shimonski Here in Washington DC, the Urban Forestry Administration (UFA) is housed out of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT). In early 2012 our head of UFA, John Thomas, approached our then- GIS Coordinator Jim Amerault, a seasoned beekeeper, about the possibility of keeping bees in the District as well as relocating honeybee swarms that were found in City trees. Jim trained seven arborists including myself to tend honeybee hives. The first year we bought bees in, but in subsequent years we've been able to stock our hives with swarm captures, which we do on average three to four times a year. We also connected with local beekeeping expert Toni Burnham, who became our ongoing mentor. Toni will spot swarms in the City and call us. We'll meet her there with a bucket truck and we have a simple pro- cess for splitting the swarms. An arborist puts on the beekeeper suit, goes up in the truck, and prunes out the branch with the hive (usually 25 to 30 feet/7.6 to 9.1 m up), then puts the hive into a paper box. Back on land, we gently brush or shake the bees into an empty hive body standing by that is either one of ours or that of a local beekeeper that is going to take them home. There's a very robust and growing beekeeper community in the District right now, so we have no trouble finding good homes for the bees. It's amazing how docile the bees in the swarm can be. Swarming is a natural means of increasing the bee population; it's a splitting of the hive population. In the spring or summer, when the hive has 40 to 50 thousand bees and it decides it's time to split, roughly half the bees and the queen gorge on honey before they fly a short distance to a temporary location. That is often a branch or stop sign. A few hundred bees—scouts—go out and find the permanent home, then the swarm follows. The gorging prior to swarming leaves the bees rather weighted down, which is why they are not aggres- sive at this time. My number one piece of advice for fellow city foresters is to get to know your local experienced beekeepers. Our mentor Toni likes to say, "If you ask five beekeep- ers how to do something, you'll get seven answers." So area. Our tree care company assisted by sending a tree climber who suited up and worked alongside our vendor to remove the hive in a dead snag … in the swamp! Many other AZA-accredited zoos have working relation- ships with the local beekeeping organizations and will contact them for removal and relocation of swarms and hives that are found on property. —Danielle L. Green, Director of Gardens & Grounds, Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens, Naples Florida