Three-foot hive on home patio neighborhood's buzz kill

ALDRICH M. TAN • The Desert Sun • August 28, 2009

Several Bermuda Dunes residents have been trying for a month to no avail to get a beehive the size of a chandelier removed from their neighbor's yard.

Neighbors say they've called various county departments for help but have been told the hive cannot be removed without permission from the homeowner.

The homeowner could not be reached for comment.

The estimated three-foot-wide beehive hangs from the patio roof of a vacant home in the 79-000 block of Delta Street. Some of those bees have been spending time in neighbors' pools, yards and bird feeders since the beginning of summer, they said.

Those neighbors are growing increasingly concerned and fearful that the beehive containing at least 15,000 bees is a safety threat. They would like to see the hive removed intact and taken to a local beekeeper.

“I don't want to destroy the hive,” neighbor Lora Gordon said Thursday. “Bees are an important part of the environment, but this hive is dangerous.”

Cheryl Isen, who has lived in the neighborhood for eight years, said she is used to bees, but there are now at least 50 in her backyard at any time.

“This hive is way too big for this neighborhood,” she said Thursday. “It needs to be dealt with.”

Isen said she and her neighbors contacted the Riverside Code Enforcement Department and the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District with no success.

The code enforcement department does not have the tools or the resources to remove the bees, senior code enforcement officer Hector Herrera said Thursday.

The county's vector control department would be in charge of removing the bees and only if it were on public property, Herrera said.

The Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District will send a technician today to look at the site and verify that the home is abandoned. The technician cannot remove the hive, but will try to contact the owner, officials said.

Since it is a private property, it is the legal responsibility of the property owner to deal with the hive and have it removed by a private beehive removal company, vector control field supervisor Rod Chamberlain said.

Sheriff's Deputy Melissa Nieburger said Thursday that neighbors should contact dispatch to have someone sent over to the residence and investigate.