One of the first big, highly trafficked stories Mission Mission ever had was about a gang of bees attacking the Mission (be sure to click through and dig those crazy pics). This was a few years back. Today, the bees are back.
Says Star:
Just saw a gigantic swarm of displaced bees at 14th & Valencia. It was intense! A plague, I say. [link]
And here Misa explains the picture she took (above):
SFPD & beekeeper busy working to save a swarm of bees on 14th & valencia [link]
Below is a shot by SFist reader Blair’s friend Carol. The bees are the dark triangle above the door:
And an even better shot by Squeaky Clean Dave:
Thanks to SFist editor Brock Keeling for the tip (and for linking our original bee post way back in the day). See below for a bunch of followup posts wherein you can learn a ton about bees and beekeeping and being an EMERGENCY BEEKEEPER.
. This was a few years back. Today, the bees are back. Says Star: Just saw a gigantic swarm of displaced bees at 14th & […]</p>
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Why exactly are the police involved? Did someone call 911 about the bee problem?
I wonder if its the same swarm that passed over my head atop Potrero Hill last summer.
Strangest thing I’ve ever seen — it was like a living CGI special effect.
No, it was not the same swarm. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarming_(honey_bee)
And you should not worry. Bees are rarely less aggressive than in a swarm. Just leave them alone.
Something similar happened about ten years ago two houses away from me. A few people called 911 and a beekeeper soon arrived; pedestrians were terrified and while I was feeling chicken, curiosity was making me nosy. The beekeeper wasn’t wearing any protective gear, so that made me a little bolder. He took a cardboard box, cut a little door in it and turned to me said: “Here hold this box.” ??????? He told me that the colony was dividing and he was going to locate the new queen, put her in the box and the girls would follow – and to not be afraid.
It happened like he said – I have a new respect for bees and all they do for us.
I asked him what he was going to do with them and he said he would find some farm to release them; totally cool.
fucking zen assed beekepers
For real.
At about 12:30pm today I saw a massive swarm of bees just outside the North Berkeley BART station, meandering across the parking lot. Not sure if it was related or they were in route to SF, but fucking scary to witness.
this whole episode was hardly noticeable to anyone outside of a few beesybodies
I rode my bike through this mess yesterday afternoon. There were 3 cop cars staked out for the purpose of controlling these bees. IT WAS SCARY!
I took some pictures of it too at around 4:25.
Apparently that’s THE city beekeeper, yes the city has an official beekeeper. The bees were taken to a pumpkin farm in Pescadero.