CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — If you've ever stumbled across a beehive, your first thought might be to remove it.
Lots of folks will call an exterminator for that, but if that hive contains honeybees there's a much sweeter option.
When confronted with a beehive many people may be tempted to call an exterminator but there is a more eco-friendly option.
Call a beekeper.
“When we arrive, the first thing we do is start smoking some bees,” said Michael Leidner of Coastal Bend Beekeepers.
Then it's time to suit up and start removing the colony. The removal process keeps the hive alive and allows them to be relocated.
“Out into the orange grove area into one of our bee yards so they can keep being bee,” Leidner said. “They can keep making honey. they can keep pollinating flowers.”
Although many people are afraid of bees, honeybees have a very important job.
“Bees can be bad,” he said.“And we hear stories once or twice a year of somebody getting killed in South Texas by honeybees.”
“Bees also pollinate. A third of commercial crops are pollinated by honeybees. Anything you have growing in your yard, probably 80 or 90 percent of it is pollinated by honeybees. We are actual beekeepers doing the removals. They go to one of our bee yards and keep doing what bees do in our boxes--pollinating plants and making honey.”
And we have a pretty important job to do too. Conserving and protecting the honeybees-- and the reward is pretty sweet.
“Bees make honey which is fantastic! I think it's one of the most amazing things in the world," Leidner said. "Honey itself has some medicinal properties, it's anti-bacterial--it's delicious! Add it to your coffee, add it to your tea. just eat it by itself on a hot biscuit, fantastic!”
