No-sting operation: Caltrans helps save beehive

Published:

For District5 beehive story

Shown at the SR-154 project are, from left, Gabriel Valencia and Nick Wigle of Super Bee Rescue, and Caltrans Resident Engineer Omid Vaziri.

Photo by District 5

By District 5 Public Affairs 

As part of a bridge rehabilitation project on State Route 154 near La Colina Road in Santa Barbara, Caltrans field staff discovered a large 8-foot honey-beehive occupying a cavity inside a large highway signpost. 

Caltrans worked closely with the contractor, C.A. Rasmussen, and the Super Bee Rescue Company to relocate the signpost to a safe place and rescue the bees.  

All flying bees return to the hive at nightfall, which allowed to hive entrances to be closed with screens after dusk before the signpost could be transported to a safe location where it could be carefully opened so the bees, larvae and honeycomb could be transferred to a commercial hive.  

Caltrans and its partners through this effort saved nearly 40,000 bees that were inside the signpost, and those bees now continue to help our ecosystem.  

The bee company will care for the bees for some time due to undergoing this major transfer to a new location experience.  The bees will be cared for and monitored until they have settled into their new hive before they are relocated to agricultural areas of Santa Barbara County, where they can pollinate local crops such as avocados and blueberries.  

Caltrans was able to complete its work while maintaining the life and safety of these bees and respecting the environment in which they live so they will be productive and continue to thrive in nature.