by Paula Mele Weatherbie
Sometime around mid morning on Good Friday while gazing out the window, we noticed what looked like a big brown shoe high up in one of our trees. Upon closer examination, we realized a swarm of bees had taken up residence in our yard, hanging in a large cluster about 15 feet up in a cherry laurel. Eeeek! So I called Brandon Pollard, noted urban bee-wrangler with the Texas Honeybee Guild and the beekeeper of scores of hives including those at Trinity River Audubon Center. You might remember Brandon’s name from his personal war against the mosquito spraying in Dallas for the West Nile Virus. The spraying cost thousands of bees their lives as the chemicals got into the hives, seeping through their screen-bottomed boards. Brandon and his wife, Susan, are devout bee lovers and have made preserving what they call “fragile natural resources” their way of life. Continue reading
