[OldNorth] Hive Alive -- bees back at the 636 B. Street street tree

[Robin&Dennis]

OLD NORTHers,
	The bees are back at the 636 B. Street tree where two weeks 
ago some one had plugged up their elm-tree hive in the street tree. 
Saturday around 5:30 I noticed them coming and going;  there was 
still some activity at midnight last night;  this morning they are 
busy as bees, thick and fast.  The new colony seems to feature bees 
that are a little bigger and with darker abdomen stripes than the 
previous hive.  I'm hoping they have moved in with a queen, but there 
is the possibility that they are some other colony that is merely 
stripping the abundant honey out of the abandoned hive.  Hope for the 
best!

Dennis, the happy BEEliever in the regenerative power of nature





Sheryl,
	A few minutes ago I checked on the honey bee hive in the Elm 
tree in front of 636 B. Street.  Someone in the last 24 hours has 
plugged up the bee entrance with expanding insulation foam.  Dead 
bees are all around the former entrance and the hive is surely killed.
	That hive was a source of daily pleasure and pride to me 
since I first noticed it about 6 months ago.  Every daytime 
walk-around-the-block with Kirby let me marvel in their 
industriousness in coming-and-going at the entrance hole.  It is 
right about ear height and at night I would put my ear to the tree 
and listen to the buzz of thousands of beating wings inside.  Honey 
bees are dying nationwide from mysterious causes, and bee decline is 
a serious economic and biological trend.  I have a hard time 
imagining the mind-set that would lead to this act of assassination 
of our  honeybee friends.
	I'll check with the city to see if killing bees in street 
trees is official policy.  However, I suspect it to be an 
unauthorized act by the workmen who are daily engaged in some serious 
remodelling for the new owners (the Schillings).

Dennis