Hey, that's interesting... West 113th St, and the Butler Library at Columbia U is just to the North, the article said? Well, I was speaking at Columbia just last week about non-bee subjects, and afterwards, I was asked to look at a Columbia U staff residence just a few blocks away from 113th. I was shown, judging from the sorties per minute, a very large colony that had set up shop in the hollow area between the layers of brick of the double-walled brick building 4 stories up. In the photo http://bee-quick.com/columbia_u.gif one can see unsuccessful attempts to patch the openings in the mortar and thereby starve the hive to death. (Not surprisingly, the bees found altenate entrances - the mortar is riddled with bee-sized holes.) They wanted the bees out, but not killed. They care. They have a resident who claims the usual life-threatening "allergy" to bees, yet carries no Epi-Pen. I was asked to subcontract under their pest control company to cover licensing and insurance issues. I explained that the job would be anything but cheap, moreso given that this was a "historic structure" demanding care in the removal and replacement of the brick to get the combs out, and would cost even more if I had to go in from the outside, rather than out from inside, as "height + bees = risk". They offered me a very nice fee. But this observation by Peter poses an ethical dilemma. I wonder if Mr. Graves and Ms. Goodman still have a hive on 113th. I know that Graves still sells lots and lots of "New York City Honey" every weekend at the farmers markets at prices you would not believe, so if he is truthfully labeling the honey as to its origin, perhaps these are his bees, and he'd like them returned. On the other hand, perhaps Columbia would want to recover their costs by back-billing my fees to Graves & Goodman for negligently letting a hive swarm in the middle of a city where beekeeping is not strictly legal, even though Graves sells so much "New York City Honey", he either has dozens of hives spread across the city, or misleads his customers. Columbia is my client in this little project. Their check already cleared. If I say nothing, I may get many more fun and exciting high-altitude colonies that need removing in the future. If I say something, I'd expose Graves and Goodman to regulatory problems, and perhaps the wrath of Columbia U. Suggestions? I'm inclined to remove the hive, and not speculate as to the possible source of the bees. ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************