Florida deputies who double as beekeepers cause quite a buzz when active hive discovered in evidence room
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - Two Charlotte County deputies are getting a lot of buzz for what they did at work.
The deputies removed a hive with more than 8,000 bees that was in a cabinet just outside the evidence room.
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"I went out there to work on a separate case and the evidence team notified me that, ‘Hey. Just be careful. There are some bees out there,'" Detective James Murray said. "So, I went over and checked it out and noticed they were honeybees and us being beekeepers."
"I showed them ‘Hey, I can get rid of these things for you guys if you want,’" he continued.
The two Charlotte County deputies are also beekeepers.
As one of their hobbies, Murray and Deputy William Batson are licensed beekeepers, and jumped into action.
"It’s just basically a process of taking the wax comb from where they've basically glued it to that cabinet. We cut it out with a wax knife, and we have empty wooden frames and each box holds about ten frames in it. This side had seven rows of wax comb that we were able to take that out. Once we cut it out, then we put it in the empty wooden frames with rubber bands and pull that in there. And then eventually the bees will build that up and reattach to the wooden frames," Murray explained.
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"We were a little surprised about the size of the swarm," Deputy Batson shared. "It has been a little bit bigger than what we’ve captured in the past. Most hives have anywhere from 30,000 to 60,000 bees, so it was not a full hive."
No one was stung, according to deputies.
Batson and Murray said they estimated that the bees had been in the cabinet for about a week or two. They moved them in with the rest of their personal hives on a piece of property near Warden Farms and Shell Creek Grove.
"I just thought it was an opportunity to help the sheriff’s office you, you know, obviously to remove the bees instead of having to pay an exterminator to come in. And it just helps us out as well. It adds another hive to our apiary. And, all in all, it works out, you know, the bees get saved, and we are able to have another hive to care for and grow," Murray said.
The deputies said shockingly, no one was stung in the process either.