Beekeepers Young and Old Flock to Biz
A business near Wichita found bees swarming in its parking lot yesterday morning, but the team of beekeepers who arrived about an hour later included a young go-getter who calls herself “fearless.”
Ann Knoblauch was stung on the neck the first time she experimented with beekeeping. She cried, then got over it in short order, and went back in. That was five years ago, and Ann is still the youngest beekeeper around. She showed up with her mom, Renee, and helped another beekeeper herd the bees into containers to save both business at ProBuild, and the honeybees.
The bees had escaped from a transport truck than ran into mechanical problems and pulled into the parking lot that morning. The driver, Bob, who drove for Mann Lake Honey Maker, said once he pulled in things just “went downhill from there.”
Bob, too, was suited up in masked protection and beekeeper gear, helping to capture the bees.
The threat to business workers and customers was minimal, as the bees became more contained. In addition to Anne and Renee, a third local beekeeper named John Aston arrived shortly after they began suiting up.
“We live out in the country,” Aston said. “We get swarms like that but not that big.”
“I’m assuming the queen is going to be over by the pole,” Renee said, as they got together to decide how to approach the hive. “Because that’s the biggest cluster.”
Police showed up at the scene but only supervised. “We’re just not equipped to deal with bees,” Capt. Jose Salcido said.
