SACRAMENTO, Calif — The people who make Northern California Strong are those who inspire us and make our communities a great place to live. ABC10 wants to highlight their strength by recognizing what they do. This week we want to introduce you to Daniel Schoenthal founder of Blue Green Horizons.
The lions at the Sacramento Zoo recently got a little more space to lounge around in. Their habitat space was doubled. That’s good news for lions Cleo and Kamau, but zookeeper Jasmin Rosario says some unwanted guests also recently moved in.
“A few days ago, a colony of bees made their home in the rock wall of the habitat,” said Rosario.
The honeybee swarm is in a precarious spot and required a special person to remove them. That special person was Daniel Schoenthal, Bee swarm remover and educator with Blue Green Horizon.
“In a month this rock wall is going to be hundreds of degrees in temperature because of the sun and so this hive would fail. They would die,” says Schoenthal.
Blue Green Horizon is a non-profit that teams up with the Sacramento Beekeepers association to humanly remove unwanted honeybee swarms from just about anywhere. Including a lion’s den.
“I’m good with cats,” laughed Schoenthal.
Don’t worry Schoenthal never encountered the lions. Both Cleo and Kamau got an early dinner and were closed off in their sleeping quarters while Schoenthal worked.
The bee removal process happened in two stages. In the morning Schoenthal opened up the rock wall to see how big the swarm was.
“There is about 5 combs each about half a basketball in size,” he said.
Schoenthal and his partner Jeff Goding then came back in the evening and vacuumed out the bees and carefully removed the hives before the summer heat kills them.
Honeybees play a big role in pollinating California’s fruit and vegetable crops, but the bee population worldwide has significantly declined due to disease and pesticides. Daniels' goal is to educate people about the importance of saving bees by teaching beekeeping to others.
“Many of our hives we relocate go to 4H, Girl Scout groups and community gardens.”
If you find or need a bee swarm removed call Blue Green Horizon at 916-426-6445 or go to their website http://bluegreenhorizons.org/ to get tips on honeybees and swarm safety.
Daniel Schoenthal is NorCal strong for going into the lion’s den to save honey bees. If you want to nominate a strong Northern Californian send a text (916) 321-3310 and put NorCal Strong in the text. Feel free to send pictures and or web links in the submission.
