Editorial Assistant
They say bees are dying, but that doesn’t mean the people trying to protect them are meeting the same fate.
As wild bees struggle to survive in certain cases, a group of local enthusiasts is working to ensure that these bees— specifically, honeybees— can thrive in their environment.
The bee lovers have been rescuing these little insects for five years now.
The Long Beach Beekeepers Club, which celebrated its fifth anniversary in February and has recently been incorporated as a nonprofit group with tax-exempt 501c(3) status, has received a permit from the Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation & Marine to build a bee sanctuary in the city.
The sanctuary, three years in the making, will serve as a safe haven for bees and a place for group members to convene for classes and other activities. It will be based in Willow Springs Park, and a press release in February detailed that it will be the first and only municipal bee refuge in the western United States.
Henry Kurland, president of the beekeepers club, said the concept of the sanctuary was heavily inspired by former Long Beach 7th District Councilmember James Johnson.
The structure will be a six-sided cage that consists of panels, each eight-foot by eight-foot. A group of local volunteers who are attempting to achieve Eagle Scout status are building the panels in a back yard, Kurland said. From there, they will transfer the structure to the park.
The project is funded solely through fundraisers. The proceeds are then used to buy the resources.
Kurland said the sanctuary can be completed as soon as a couple of weeks.
The club, which has nearly 200 members, started with a group of five people who wanted to do something local with the community.
Dick Barnes, co-founder and treasurer of the club, said all the group’s accomplishments over the past five years have been focused on the well being of the honeybee.
“From our bee rescues, to the urban-agriculture ordinance, to our community-outreach events, to the bee sanctuary,” Barnes wrote in an email, “Long Beach Beekeepers has played a vital role in educating the public about the honeybee’s role in our world and the importance of protecting this amazing creature.”
The Long Beach Beekeepers Club hosts beekeeping classes, where participants can inspect hives and observe bees, on the first Saturday of each month at 8am at the South 40 Community Garden, and meetings on the first Sunday of each month at 10am at the EDCO facility, 2755 California Ave. This Sunday’s meeting will feature a county bee inspector, Kurland said.
Occasionally, the group will have a table set up during the First Fridays Art Walk in Bixby Knolls, where they sell commercial-brand honey sticks for 25 cents.
The group recently started charging a $20 fee for those who want to become members. Some of these members volunteer to do bee rescues, a service residents can request through email at LBBeeRescue@YahooGroups.com. There is no service charge, but patrons are welcome to donate a sum.
Bee rescues are different depending on the situation, Kurland said. A swarm, for example, is a simple collecting mission because the group of bees do not have a home to protect.
Hives require a more intricate process. Kurland said it is easier to handle a hive in open air instead of a hive that’s stuck in or near a wall.
It seems as though bees need rescuing now more than ever, as it’s been documented nationally that wild bees are now endangered.
Kurland attributed the death of bees to poor diet, diseases and fatigue.
He explained that bees have a mono diet— for months at a time, they stick with only one food, cycling through almonds, cherries and apples, for example.
“So, their diet is not the best,” Kurland said. “Also, the commercial [queen bees] are not acclimated and not resilient, so they are constantly moving to different climates, and that puts a strain on them.”
Commercial beekeepers tend to replace the queen every six months to a year, he added. The status of the queen bee usually determines the entire hive and its inhabitants’ productivity and health.
Queen bees typically live about seven years— a huge difference compared to worker bees, who live about six weeks.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”250px” img=”https://signal-tribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Screen-Shot-2017-03-02-at-4.16.04-PM.png” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”Photo by Jaime Guoz
Dick Barnes, co-founder and treasurer of the Long Beach Beekeepers Club, inspecting bees that were extracted from under a shed” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off”] Worker bees tend to go through different roles within the hive, he said. After some time, these bees become foragers, when they start performing outside tasks such as collecting pollen or nectar.
Eventually, they wear themselves out.
“If you see a bee flying around at night, those bees have left the hive because they are near death,” Kurland said. “And they are following the light because they are near death, and they think it’s the Sun.”
He also attributed the death of bees to the misuse of pesticides. He commended places such as Home Depot that sell plants without those substances.
Kurland explained that pesticides weaken the bees and make them less resistant to parasites and diseases.
He said people can help by limiting the use of pesticides and growing native plants to allow bees to eat an abundance of food.
He clarified that he isn’t saying pesticides are bad, but instead confirming there is a place for them, and that people just need to follow product directions.
Kurland said the beekeepers club also provides demonstrations at school events upon request.
“Hopefully, when the sanctuary is done, we will be able to invite classes for demonstrations there,” he said. “[…] I just want to continue the work we’ve been doing. Getting people to come to the classes, even if they don’t want to become beekeepers— at least get to know the bees and understand that they are not dangerous if you know what you’re doing.”
I have a Bee hive between my property and my neighbors. It is a double wall for electrical pole. I believe the Bees belong to the City of Long Beach I got stung Saturdsy when they swarmed. I’m pissed and want to do something about it. So this doesn’t happen to my kids. My dogs and myself again.