The nation's capital has declared beekeepers to be essential workers during the coronavirus outbreak.
A bee rests on a yellow sign that reads "Bees on Board" on beekeeper Sean Kennedy's truck as he helps capture a swarm of honey bees and relocate them to a bee hive, Friday, May 1, 2020, in Washington. The District of Columbia has declared beekeepers as essential workers during the coronavirus outbreak.
As they reach the end of the alley, they find what they were looking for: a dark mass about 2 feet long that most casual observers would walk by without noticing. Upon closer inspection, this brown mass moves with quiet activity, thousands of bees huddling with no nest to protect them. For the past five years, the D.C. Beekeepers Alliance has responded to calls from residents about bee swarms. These beekeepers call themselves the “Swarm Squad” and will come to all areas of the region to take away unwanted bees and give them a home, with the added benefit of collecting honey.“We had on the first swarm call day of this year, as many calls as we had in all of last year,” says Toni Burnham, the group's president, who estimates receiving calls so far about 60 to 75 swarms.
Wells and his team at the agency also are looking at the broader picture and whether there are enough bee colonies in the region. He said if there are colony collapses elsewhere, D.C. bees can be moved where necessary. Pitteloud, wearing a gray sweatshirt with “Washington, D.C” in big block letters across the front, says he was working with the Audubon Society of America to turn parts of the property into a biodiversity reserve when he was approached about beekeeping. “I said, ‘Of course.’”
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