A swarm of bees about to be drowned in a bucket by two Los Angeles County employees were rescued Thursday morning by baker David Wallace, owner of Hermosa Pie and Cake.
The foot-tall swarm had nested the previous night behind Jay Nam’s Second Street Coin Laundry, next door to Wallace’s bakery, at Second Street and Hermosa Avenue.
“I told the county guys California bees are on the endangered species list and that if they killed the bees, I’d videotape it and put it on easyreadernews.com,” Wallace said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gave endangered status to seven species of yellow-faced bees just this month.
“The county employees were very polite and offered to leave after Jay said it was okay for the bees to stay,” Wallace said.
A swarm of bees landed in the garden next to Wallace’s bakery about this time last year. After pollinating his plants for two or three days, they left, he said.
Swarming bees have split off from an existing hive and are waiting for scout bees to lead them to a suitable cavity for a new hive, according to Wikipedia.
