Bee colonies removed after setting up shop in Cape Coral park

Bee colonies have set up shop at a popular spot in Cape Coral. Concerned parents and children are seeing them all over Jaycee Park. Now, the city is stepping in.

Kids playing in the park have no idea, but their parents or grandparents might — if they look up.

Thousands of bees have made their homes on trees in Jaycee Park.

“Oh my God,” exclaimed Kathy Nicholsen. “That’s a big bee hive! I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near it.”

Nicholsen knows all about bees and the danger if one of them stings.

“I have a son who, when he was younger, he was very highly allergic to bees and he had to carry an Epi-pen with him whenever he went out,” she said.

Yellow caution tape was wrapped around some trees to keep people away. But that was only temporary until a local beekeeper was able to remove the bees.

“These are just regular, European honeybees,” explained Bee Keeper Keith Councell.

The City of Cape Coral sent Councell to the park Wednesday afternoon. He says they’re not much of a threat, but he’s still taking them down.

“It is a possibility that the winds that we’re getting from the hurricane could drop some of the cone down and the bees would be on that,” he said.

Councell says he’ll take the bees back to his farm and use them to pollinate his fruit and vegetables.

“It’s better to have them in usable boxes that we can use for farming. We’re roughly a million hives short nationwide, so we need every hive of bees we can get,” he said.

He said he will also take a sample of the bees to Florida Gulf Coast University. He’s partnered with the university to study the patterns of bees and understand what kinds of bees are out there.

Even though these honey bees have a stinger, it’s still a sweet ending for those who enjoy what this park has to offer.