Why You Need to Rethink Pest Control — Bees

Mry Contreras
3 min readFeb 11, 2022

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Why You Need to Rethink Pest Control - Bees

Pest Control — Bees

Recently, I came home to my condo complex to find a pest control worker killing a beehive right outside my door. The hive was in an olive tree. They weren’t bothering anyone (I was happy to see them buzzing around the flowers in the common area). When I approached him to discover what he was doing, I was shocked.

The damage was done. He had already sprayed a poisonous foam over the hive. He was attaching screening over the hive and stapling it to the tree to trap any surviving bees from escaping the massacre. It made me so profoundly sad and also quite angry. I was stunned. At the time, I didn’t know what to say.

So, I said nothing and walked away before I said something in anger. I wasn’t looking to start a fight after the fact. Nothing could be done for the bees trapped in the poisoned olive tree. They were already dead or dying from the foam poison. I was too late to save them. Our HOA management team had called pest control and he was doing what they paid him to do.

Maybe a neighbor complained about bees. I don’t know for certain why he was here killing bees that the ecosystem needs so desperately. Why plant flowering bushes if you hate bees?

Ignorance is dangerous. I wish he realized that if we continue to kill bees by destroying their habitats and poisoning them we won’t have fruits and vegetables. I wish he knew about relocating the bees instead of wiping them out without a care. I didn’t take the opportunity to talk to him though. I was too shocked to speak to him at the time. Regrettably, I missed an opportunity. I wish I had said something.

Docile Honey Bees are struggling to survive. Pesticides, aggressive beekeeping practices that can destroy the hives and leave the bees without food, fewer wild places for habitat, disease, illness, honey badgers, ants, and wasps that attack them and can take over their hives all contribute to making life really hard for the docile and essential honey bees.

Bees pollinate crops, flowers, and are a necessary foundation for the human ecosystem. Without pollination, the majority of crops would fail and not bear fruit.

Responsible pest control is hard to find. Bees may take up residence in an undesirable location and you may find the need to take action. There are knowledgeable pest control professionals that can move a hive without killing off the bees. Please support these professionals and share the information so we don’t kill off these harmless and essential pollinators.

https://youtu.be/gBCyH83l11M

Anything that annoys or bothers us should not be carelessly eradicated without considering the consequences. We must take the future more seriously. The consequences of our actions have an impact on our world and the world of our children and grandchildren.

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Mry Contreras
Mry Contreras

Written by Mry Contreras

Dog Walker, Nature lover, mom and dog woman living life to it’s fullest.