SAN ANTONIO – Their motto is “we save bees from people and people from bees.”
And that’s exactly what happened Wednesday at a Northeast Side home in the 8000 block of Winsford Drive.
“If you try to open this hive by yourself they’ll probably kill you,” said Walter Schumacher, CEO of American Honey Bee Protection Agency.
What would be a dangerous job for most is just another day at the office for beekeeper Schumacher.
“We go places where bees are unwanted and take them to places where they are wanted,” Schumacher said.
The homeowners say the hive has been there for at least six years.
“Every year a beehive grows about a cubic foot,” Schumacher said. “So, 12 by 16 inches by 12 to 16 inches by 12 to 16 inches.”
Schumacher had to rip holes in the ceiling to find the honeycomb, which has capped honey and bee eggs, also known as brood.
“And we’ll remove the brood and put them into our own frames and then relocations them into the little white boxes that most people understand to be bee boxes,” Schumacher said.
The organization doesn’t use any chemicals during the removal, just a lot of patience because the process takes several hours.
After the bees are safely relocated, they sell the capped honey and those profits pay for the removal service.
Schumacher said bees are not only essential for his business but for the livelihood of life as we know it.
“We’ll be the only large protein animals left on earth after the bees are gone,” Schumacher said. “After 18 months there’ll be no cows. There’ll be no tuna fish. There be no anything. There’ll just be people that are hungry.”
If you ever find a beehive the best option is to call the City Call Center at 311 instead of trying to remove it yourself.
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