“The flames shot up as high as nearby palm trees — some 40 feet into the air,” recalled beekeeper Brandon Teller
NEED TO KNOW
- Beekeeper Brandon Teller lost a total of 96 hives, totaling over 3 million bees, in California’s Verona Fire
- Teller warns rising costs could lead to more bee exterminations, harming ecosystems and native pollinators
- He has received 30 donated hives to rebuild his colonies after the fire destroyed them
Nearly ten days after the Verona Fire broke out in California, a beekeeper is speaking out about the effects it had on his honeybee hives and their colonies.
Brandon Teller told the Los Angeles Times in a story published on Thursday, May 28, that the fire, which broke out in the Green Acres and Homeland areas on Tuesday, May 19, caused the loss of 80 owned hives and 16 hives that he had rescued as part of his bee removal business.
Teller recalled the flames shooting “up as high as nearby palm trees — some 40 feet in the air,” during the height of the fire.
Each hive contained roughly 40,000 to 60,000 bees, resulting in an estimated total loss of three to four million bees that were mainly used for crop pollination. Only nine hives survived the blaze, each of which will need rehabilitation for the remainder of the year…