As the new year begins, it’s that time again where we reflect upon the prior year’s events in the world of bee removal. The following are what we consider to be the top 3 bee related events of 2016.
Over the past few years, there has been a growing concern for the protection of the honeybee. Increased awareness of the challenges that face the honeybee have been accompanied by political and legislative regulations. 2016 was no exception to that trend…which leads us to our first major bee event of 2016.
#1. Some Native Bees (Not Honey Bees) are now on the endangered Species list
For the first time in history, the federal government has declared seven species of native bees on the endangered list. It’s important to note that the endangered species refer specifically to 7 different types of the Hawaiian yellow faced native bee. Primarily, the bumble bee. So what does this mean? It means that it is now illegal to intentionally kill one of the seven varieties of the federally protected, yellow faced bees. Where are these bees found? All seven types of this bee are endemic to Hawaii.
Here are some other links on this subject:
https://www.sciencealert.com/seven-species-of-bees-have-been-added-to-the-endangered-species-list
#2. Bees affected by the California Drought
The second major bee related event of 2016 is closer to home, at the state level. I’m talking about the ongoing and seemingly never ending California drought. Last year at this time, many Californians were anxiously awaiting and hoping for wetter conditions. The consensus by the majority of meteorologists was to expect a super wet El Nino. As the year progressed it became obvious that the El Nino was not as “Super” as was predicted. In fact many Californians muttered their dismay in how weak the rainfall totals were accumulating. To be sure it was a fairly mild El Nino event. That being said, here in San Diego, the effect on the wild bee population was obvious to most people in the bee related industries. Not only did our company see a huge rise in the number of bee swarms, but honey manufacturers and beekeepers also noted a much improved year for the health of their bee populations.
#3. Attaining Operators License with the Structural Pest Control Board
The last major event of 2016 is one that is near and dear to our company. After decades of working in the bee removal field, our owner, Jeff Lutz, attained his operators License with the Structural Pest Control Board. The road to attaining his Operators license was a long one. In the early years of our company, Lutz didn’t see the need to attain the license because he was elusively practicing live bee removals only. As the years progressed, the wild honeybee populations became noticeably more aggressive. This was primarily due to the increasing presence of Africanized colonies in the County. For many years, these aggressive bees presented challenges to performing safe live removals. Currently the company is still licensed with his partner, Robin Shepherd. The addition of Jeff’s Operators license will ensure the future security of the company for may years to come.
So there you have it. Our top three bee events of 2016. Got another event of 2016 that you think should be included on the list? Share your thoughts below.
