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January/February 2019
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THE DAVEY BULLETIN
While helping Refuge of Hope Ministries in Canton, Ohio,
clear a lot for their expansion project, a crew from the
Canton R/C office found a sweet, yet stinging surprise in
one of the trees.
"We run into hornet and yellow jackets nests in the field,
but it's not often we encounter honey bees," said Jeffrey
Wernet, district manager.
Crew members Steve Barchalk, foreman, Mike Ellis,
foreman, and Jeremy Baker, trimmer, felled one of the last
remaining trees on the lot. That's when they discovered a
honey bee nest about 15 feet up inside the tree.
Barchalk called Mueller Honey Bee Rescue, which is his
cousin's business, to see if they wanted to keep the bees
and they did, Wernet said. The crew cut the portion of the
log containing the nest and helped load it on a trailer.
"With all of this talk over the last couple of years about
the honey bee populations declining, nobody wants to see
a hive die out," Wernet said. "I'm glad our crew had the
mindset to do something to preserve the hive."
The nest was removed from the tree and is now living
inside a beehive, said Emily Mueller, from Mueller Honey
Bee Rescue. On the last warm day of 2018, the bees were
still alive, and Mueller anticipates they will make it to spring.
Right and Above Left: Crew members of the Canton R/C office helped
a member of the Mueller Honey Bee Rescue load the log containing the
honey bees onto a trailer to be transported to the rescue center.
Photo Credit: Emily Mueller, Mueller Honey Bee Rescue
BEE HIVE THRIVES IN NEW HOME
Should other crews run into a honey bee hive while out
in the field, Wernet's advice is to call a local bee keeper
to relocate them.
"Most local bee keepers are pretty open to doing what the
Muellers did to get this hive," Wernet said. "They realize the
populations are low and they want to preserve them too."
The honey bee nest was about 15 feet up inside the tree and wasn't
discovered until the tree was felled. The bees have a new home in a
bee box in the Mueller's backyard. Photo Credit: Emily Mueller, Mueller
Honey Bee Rescue
