Fullerton : Swarm of Bees Leaves Neighborhood Abuzz

Lin Brewer’s life was turned into an altered version of an Alfred Hitchcock movie recently, when a swarm of bees nested outside her home and refused to move.

Brewer couldn’t get past her porch and her husband had to turn the garden hose on his bee-covered car before he could drive. The mail carrier was stung at least six times, and a neighbor said she would have to leave home.

“By then, I thought, this is ridiculous. I can’t go to work. My husband can’t get to his car. Somebody has to do something,” Brewer said.

A call to the city didn’t help much, she said. City crews attend only to bees in parkway trees, said Joan Westberg, Maintenance and Operations Department secretary.

“Once it’s in your yard, it’s yours,” Westberg said.

Brewer said most private beekeepers wanted at least $50 to remove the swarm, but she found one last week who took the bees away for free.

Because Fullerton gets at least 50 calls a year about bee problems, Westberg said, the city wants to update its list of the names of beekeepers who will collect swarms and transfer them to hives. Beekeepers interested in adding their names to the Fullerton referral list may do so by calling 738-6306.