Mind your P's and Q's around bees in tree, trail users urged

Monday, August 5, 2013
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An old tree that hugs the Albin Pond Trail along the south side of Albin Pond Road, just east of Houck Road, is currently fenced off to keep trail users from getting too close to a bee colony being removed from the tree.

Simply walking or running along Albin Pond Road certainly has never been very easy.

First off, it's a narrow roadway to begin with, compounded by speeding vehicles, often uncertain footing and the glare of morning and evening sun.

City officials and others had thought most of that had been solved with the development of the Albin Pond People Pathways Trail tucked safely along the south side of the pavement in recent years.

Now, however, the buzz is that a new obstacle exists along the pathway -- a bee colony.

Consequently, Greencastle Park Superintendent Rod Weinschenk, under whose authority the maintenance and safety of the People Pathway trails falls, has had the trail fenced off just east of where Houck Road intersects Albin Pond Road.

While the insects are honey bees, not killer bees, the park director nonetheless sees it as a safety issue, especially since the tree is only inches from the pathway. He told the Park Board last week that the beekeeper relocating the denizens of the hive recommended fencing it off to keep everyone using the trail away from any potential danger.

Weinschenk said he had hoped the bee relocation project would be finished before school resumed since the pathway location is about 100 yards from the access drive to Tzouanakis School and youngsters use the trail to walk to school from nearby neighborhoods.

However, that isn't likely now with Greencastle schools resuming classes on Wednesday (Aug. 7).

Evacuation of the thousands of bees from the old tree hasn't exactly come easily either.

"The colony was so big, the beekeeper has changed out his bee hive boxes twice already," Weinschenk noted. "So hopefully the fencing won't extend too far into the back-to-school season."

Seven or eight entry points for the bees to get inside the tree were discovered, and had to be sealed up before the bees could be vacuumed into hive boxes without escaping via another point of access.

Bee issues, however, are nothing new to the City Park Department. The past two years bee colonies have had to be removed from trees in Greencastle's Robe-Ann Park.

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