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Swarm of bees gets sacked in Dade City

They hang out near a flower shop in Dade City, but rather than gas them, a bee guru takes them for a ride.

By JAMAL THALJI
Published June 14, 2005

DADE CITY - How hot is Pasco County's real estate market? Let's just say humans aren't the only species looking for new homes.

A swarm of 6,000 to 7,000 bees was discovered Monday afternoon on Meridian Avenue downtown.

"They're just looking for a good Realtor," said apian specialist Raymond Mills.

They couldn't stay, though, clinging to that palm tree branch. It's a public street, after all, and thousands of swarming displaced bees can be a nuisance, as well as a danger to those allergic to bee stings.

The bees had to settle for an old Huggies diapers box and a ride to Polk County in Mills' pickup.

"They'll get to ride up front with me," Mills said.

Mills, the 61-year-old bee guru of Apian Sting Operation Inc. in Lakeland, said the bees are likely the result of an old queen taking off with half the colony from a nearby bee farm. In their quest for a new home, they somehow ended up steps away from the Expressions by Tracy flower shop.

"They were just sitting on the street until finally they started circling around here," said shop owner Tracy Thompson, 42. "So finally I called the city."

And the city called the state, which called Mills. The bees had to go, he said, and moving the bees is a lot more humane than the alternative.

"You just don't know where (the swarm) will end up," he said, "in a city like this, it can wind up in anybody's structure. When they get into a structure, most of the time it's necessary to put them to sleep."

And that could be dangerous too, Mills said.

"If you spray and kill the queen but not the other bees," he said, "they just act real strange for days."

Mills donned a bee veil and gloves ("It's called a honey robber suit," he said) climbed up a ladder and shook the branch into his box. Then, sans veil and gloves, he picked up the box and put it inside a white sack. Only a few dozen bees were left swarming around the tree, and Mills said the safest thing to do was gas them.

He's been doing this since he was 18, and despite thousands of stings he's grown quite fond of the creatures. He has even penned articles for the American Bee Journal .

"It's not pest control," Mills said. "It's an adventure."

[Last modified June 14, 2005, 01:27:13]