Bees Bears and Yellow Jackets
Apopka, FL
Neighbors who live along Hickory Knoll Court say honey bees, yellow jackets and even bears, believed to be from nearby Wekiwa State Park, are all part of a neighborhood nuisance.
The insects are swarming around a foreclosed home in the Wekiva Glen subdivision. It’s not the buzzing that’s disturbing neighbors. Over the weekend, Jeff Rolling saw much more.”I heard what I thought was somebody breaking into my house. I got up and checked, and I realized it was three bears. One of them weighed over 450 pounds,” Rolling said. The bears had come looking for a midnight snack.” They come back every night, and they grab a little cone off the hive and leave,” Rolling said.
Rolling has been stung several times.”I was really concerned that my 7-year-old is going to be here, and it wouldn’t take very many big stings to seriously hurt her,” Rolling said. Bears tend to come out more in Florida’s winter months.”The bears don’t have much to eat, so that protein source from the beehive is great for them,” he said. “I’m sure they don’t mind the honey either. I’m sure that’s a bonus.” It was estimated that nearly 50,000 bees were there before the three bears upset the whole thing. The bees and preying yellow jackets were removed.