Doing it for the love of bees

City of Belleville Public Works staff received a surprise when they went to remove a large tree that had fallen over in East Riverside Park a couple of weeks ago.

Inside the tree they found a large honey bee hive.

Staff immediately called Curtis Hardy of Quinte Bee Rescue.

He is extremely passionate about bees.

For years Hardy has been a beekeeper; he makes honey, beeswax candles and other products to sell but he also saves thousands of bees every year.

“I just, really am amazed by bees. The ability of what they do and less than a million neurons in their brains and how they’re able to achieve everything that they can, is just amazing to me.”

He relocates swarms but also has removed bees from homes and buildings across the Quinte Region, Northumberland, Bancroft, Kingston and as far as Ottawa.

He says there are very few businesses that work to safely remove bees from homes and buildings.

Hardy adds swarms are fairly easy to relocate for someone who is experienced but safely removing bees from a home is more tricky.

“I’ve had beehives that have been underneath, in between the floor and the ceiling of a two-storey house, under a person’s bed. And the only way to get them was to lift the floor inside the bedroom, remove the bees and put everything back together. Inside chimneys, inside, well, trees as well.”

The City of Belleville has used Hardy’s services before, most recently for a large hive that was found in a tree that fell on June 26 in East Riverside Park across from the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre.

A bee hive was found inside a fallen tree in East Riverside Park, June 26, 2023. (Photo: City of Belleville/Twitter)

Hardy says the first thing he did was find the queen.

“I moved her into a cage, put her onto the top of the box. And then the bees well, ‘Hey, where’s mom?’ start looking for her and they transferred themselves from the cavity that was inside the tree and into the box. The queen’s pheromone is essentially what helps control the hive. They say, ‘Hey we have the one person in charge.’ And when that smell went away they very, very, very quickly try to find it again.”

He put them into a ready built house and moved them to one of his bee yards.

A bee hive was found inside a fallen tree in East Riverside Park, June 26, 2023. (Photo: City of Belleville/Twitter)

Before Hardy moves bees into his regular rotation, he always treats them first.

“And there are diseases and pests that can be transmitted between bees because they are a semi-social creature during feeding. I like to try to keep them a little bit more isolated. I give them some antibiotics and some treatments just to make sure that they’re very healthy. And then I bring them into my rotation so they can continue to pollinate and make honey.”

Hardy says he currently only has 10 hives but has had as many as 120.

Unfortunately, he expects to move next year as he is a member of the military and will likely be posted elsewhere.

He’s been selling off his hives as he cannot bring them with him though he says he will begin again wherever his family moves.

Until then, he will continue with Quinte Bee Rescue.

He says swarm removals are always free but there is a charge for removal from homes.

Quinte Bee Rescue has a Facebook page where you can see some of the work Hardy has done.

He can be contacted at quintebeerescue@gmail.com.

Curtis Hardy of Quinte Bee Rescue with a swarm of bees in 2021. (Photo: Quinte Bee Rescue Facebook page)