Rare discovery made in rotting tree
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FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C. -- A 100-year-old Oak Tree on the grounds of Wake Medical Center in Fuquay-Varina came down on Wednesday, but not before local beekeepers saved a rare wild hive with thousands of bees inside.
Mike Baker couldn’t believe he found such a colony; especially while inspecting a rotting tree at the medical center last fall.
“I looked up, and at first I thought it was a mushroom growing on a tree branch,” he said of the “phenomenal specimen of a comb…”
The tree had to be taken down to ensure safety around the area, so workers went to their task carefully, saving the comb.
For Baker, the comb was just the beginning. Beekeepers believe the wild colony of honeybees had lived inside the tree for 3-4 years. The N.C. Beekeepers Association said wild hives like the one found are very rare in the United States. Domestic hives in the county have half as many bees as they did in the 1980s.
The tree had to be taken down to ensure safety around the area, so workers went to their task carefully, saving the comb. Beekeepers then put it in a domestic bee box so they can keep an eye on the colony’s growth.