Good? We have a healthy population of honey bees in our neighborhood.
Unexpected? The honey bees like the owl nesting boxes and once bees inhabit a box, it's theirs.
Neighbor Barb Reis documented the removal of the bees and nesting box.
To fill in the gaps:
European Bees found the Barred Owl box. Since it was close to units, the HOA decided it was best to remove it.
When bees claim a nesting box, they also leave pheromones, a complex communicating system that birds sense. Birds will not return to that nest unless it is sanded and treated with special paint.
There was a good chance if we did the sanding and painting that the bees would use it again!
Bees were not killed. (Bravo to our HOA.)
There were two removal sessions. The Queen was removed in the first suction along with other bees and taken to another hive. Kathy Vollmer took this video.
The rest of the workers and honeycomb were removed when the box was taken down. The bees in the second removal were also taken to hives.
Another nesting owl box is still hanging on a tree across the pond behind Pineneedle. It has enough distance from units that the splitting of a swarm would not alarm neighbors.
We still have a Barred Owl pair in the neighborhood. It looks like they are okay with having a brood in the wild. I hear them most early mornings (3 -4 AM) and see their broad wing span quietly glide across the pond to Woodlawn.
If you donated to the Owl Nesting Box project, we hope you see the value of providing nature this support even when the inhabiters are not the expected guests. Thank you again.
