Everyone always wants to know what we do with the bees once they are removed from the customers’ property. About 99% of our bees are taken to a bee clinic for rehabilitation. I know that sounds crazy but it’s true! You see, wild bees in San Diego are hybridized. What does that mean? It means that their genetic DNA is different than it used to be.

You see, a while back an experiment went wrong in South America. A researcher in Brazil let loose colonies of pure African bees that have migrated north and inter-bred with native bee populations. Why is this important? Pure African bees are very aggressive. Many people have died from Africanized bees. They are super defensive and strong, and a very real threat to anyone who is attacked by them.

The result of all this is that a lot of wild bees in San Diego are are now Africanized hybrids. These hybridized bees are better at surviving and more productive, but most farmers can’t do much with them. The liability is too great.  Hence the need to rehabilitate the bees!

So here is what we do. We collect the bees that are causing problems for homeowners. We capture them live and put them in a temporary hive box. We drive the bees in the temporary box to the bee clinic. The video below shows a technician dropping off of a small swarm and putting it in a regular hive box at the bee clinic.

After the bees are dropped off, members of the co-op Hive Savers network will rehabilitate the bees by re-queening the colony with a certified Italian Queen. Italian Queens are chosen for their genetic DNA. The new queen will lay eggs that will eventually hatch, carrying her more subdued genetic make up. The result is that the colony of bees will become less defensive and much safer for farmers to work with. Once rehabilitated, the colonies are placed with beekeepers, farmers, or at an apiary.  How cool is that! Wild bees go in to the bee clinic defensive and agitated and come out subdued and relaxed. Almost like a day spa for bees!

So what do you think about the bee rehab? We think it’s great. We are so proud to be donating these bees and helping bees thrive here in San Diego.