Bee-utiful Feral Honey Bee Hive

It's spectacular. It's awe-inspiring. It's a work of art.

And it's home to a feral honey bee colony in Vacaville.

A Vacaville resident contacted us awhile back about a feral honey bee hive built 30 feet off the ground in a Modesto ash tree.

The bees anchored the comb among the limbs so well that it survived the winter storms of 2010-11. Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet...nor colony collapse disorder...

It's still viable. Bees forage in the gardens, tend to their brood, and make honey.

Noted apiculturist Norm Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis, and author of a newly published book, "Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees," estimated that the feral bees probably built it in the spring of 2010. Leaves hid it from public view until winter.

Bee folks at UC Davis speculated that the heavy rains and severe winds would topple it. Not so. It's still going strong.

Some cities, including Vacaville, have ordinances prohibiting bee swarms or feral bee colonies.  If bees build it, the homeowner/tenant must remove it. (6.24.130 Wild swarms of bees. "No person shall keep, maintain, or allow to remain on any property, lot or parcel of land under his or her ownership or control any wild swarms of bees.")

It's easy to see why a city would pass such an ordinance--especially in areas with Africanized bees, which are more defensive than the European/western honey bee.

With this colony in Vacaville, however, the bees are minding their own business and the neighbors don't mind at all. (Note: the homeowner is pursuing removal, but wants to save the bees.)

Meanwhile, it's a colony to bee-hold.