Bees delay demolition of Snyder home

Image
  • Part-time beekeeper Bill Wilkins vacuumed a large group of bees from a house on 31st Street Wednesday and relocated them to his house in Clyde.
    Part-time beekeeper Bill Wilkins vacuumed a large group of bees from a house on 31st Street Wednesday and relocated them to his house in Clyde.
Body

Before it could demolish an abandoned home, the City of Snyder received help from an Abilene man who removed hundreds of bees from inside the house Wednesday and gave them a new home.
Demolition was scheduled to begin on a house at 1003 31st Street on June 20. The property is owned by Ricky Gomez, who said nobody had lived in the house since his mother passed away. Gomez lives next door  and said he noticed bees living inside the uninhabited house about eight years ago.
Gomez said the bees were not hostile, so he did not see them as a threat or concern.
“They’re docile,” Gomez said. “They’re not crazy or anything like that. They’re not like African bees or killer bees.”
Two days before the demolition was set to begin, Gomez sprayed the house to kill a large group of bees. However, by Monday, the bees had come back and built more honeycombs in the house.
Due to concerns about the bees, the city delayed the demolition and sought help in getting rid of the bees.
Beekeeper Bill Wilkins said he has been fascinated by bees and their behaviors, but only took up beekeeping about two months ago as a side job.
Rather than kill the bees, Wilkins relocated the bees to Clyde, where he and his wife, Karen, have about 14 acres of land and already have two hives they took from other buildings.
Wilkins said he believes there is a misconception among the public regarding bees and their purpose.
“I think the first inclination when people hear about bees, is to kill them and that they’re invaders, and they’re really not,” Wilkins said. “In an abandoned building, they are just looking for a safe place to be. We take them to our property and put them in a little section where they have some shade and can live their lives and make honey.”
The relocation process begins with “smoking,” a method in which Wilkins fills a container with grass, cotton seed and other fuel sources and lights it on fire. He then closes the canister lid, which has a funnel for the smoke to go out of the canister.
He walks through areas with bees and releases the smoke, which has a calming and sedative effect on the bees. The purpose is for them to be less aggressive once the capturing process begins.
After the smoking, Wilkins, in his beekeeping suit, sucks the bees into a large vacuum. Once the vacuum is full, he transfers the bees to a bucket. Once all the colonies are captured, he puts them into a honeycomb-like box and takes them to Clyde.
Wilkins did much of his relocation on Wednesday and said there are still some honeycombs inside walls. He plans to return Tuesday to remove the combs and the house will be ready for demolition.
Gomez said he is just happy the bees will have a new home.
“I’ll just be happy to have them out of the house and I’m glad they’ll have a good place to go to,” Gomez said.