Pictured above from left to right: a swarm of wild honeybees in search of a new home, the tree the swarm came from (located in a city park), and a recently felled tree (private property) that had housed a thriving colony of bees.
Wild honeybee colonies usually live in hollow tree branches high above our heads and are rarely noticed by passersby. This wild bee population is critical to the future of the species. Not reliant on drugs, supplemental feeding, integrated pest management techniques or any other human intervention used to keep domestically managed bees alive, they are proven survivors and the result of natural selection. Collectively, they represent a great genetic reservoir that can be called upon to help reverse the alarming trend of increasing homogeneity within our commercially kept honeybee operations.
As people develop and more diligently manage land, wild honeybee habitat is being diminished. Hollow tree branches are considered a danger to homeowners. The tree pictured above was cut down out of fear that its large hollow branch may have fallen on the house.
Haven literally helps replace this lost habitat and symbolically makes the public aware of the existence and importance of the wild honeybee population.
Deep Ecology Project 