Bees make Pierce home Swarm disrupts campus peace

BRYAN

Reporter @TheRoundupNews

They make sweet honey, but there’s nothing sweet about thousands of bees swarming in front of your class.

A beehive was removed from the northwest corner of the North Gym earlier this month, but a new hive has returned.

Pierce College student Jose Rodriguez was startled when he saw the bees. Rodriguez claimed that the hive was at least the size of two baseballs.

“I was coming out of the gym and I was confused to see what appeared to be a hive in the corner,” Rodriguez said. “I just saw bees coming out of it and I found it alarming.”

Operations Manager of Plant Facilities Rodney Allen called a bee removal company to resolve the issue. According to Allen, bees are a protected species in California, so they don’t spray pesticides, which contain toxic chemicals that can harm the ecosystem.

- Rodney Allen Operations Manager of Plant Facilities

“When the bee company came, they located the queen bee and stored her in a box,” Allen said.

“The others followed her into it, and once they were all gathered up, the company took them to a farm where they wouldn’t be a nuisance to anyone.”

They are required to comply with the California Code of Regulations Pertaining to the Protection of Bees that is set to protect not only bees, but all other wildlife that can be found on campus.

Secretary of the Math Department Jonathan Gallay explained that this isn’t the first time they’ve had an insect infestation on campus.

“I put in a work order September of last year to remove a wasp nest that was on the west side of the aisle from the 1100 and 1200 building,” Gallay said.

That nest was also safely removed by the Plant Facilities team.

Allen explained that these types of inconveniences to students are not uncommon on campus.

“We understand that the bees do affect the students here,” Allen said. “Every now and then, we have to close off classes until the bee company comes out.”

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In their song “A Beautiful Wind,” the trio improvised simultaneously. Each musician, with closed eyes, created something unique and different from their counterparts.

The three instruments complimented one another and battled in a thundering symphony of jazz.

Only one of the songs wasn’t written by Leckie or the trio.

“Yematibela Wef,” composed by Assefa Abate, is an Etheopian song that translates to “a bird that’s not to be eaten,” according to Peled, signifying a free-spirit.

In total, they played seven songs, each lasting a few minutesw.

Each song started and ended with a theme, while the middle was filled with improvisation.

“That’s how you make one page of music last for seven minutes,”

Leckie said.

The trio performed for an hour, answering questions at the end from audience members, and even sticking around to talk to interested students about the instruments and their careers.

Prior to moving to Los Angeles, that they met and began playing together.

Individually, they’ve studied and played professionally with various styles of music, including rock, jazz, and classical. They’ve each performed in various cities, and even internationally. As a trio, they play around LA and decided to play at Pierce because Leckie is also an adjunct music teacher at the college.

This semester, the Thursday Concerts all feature professors from Pierce. For those interested in future performances, the free concerts run from 1 p.m. - 2 p.m. at the Performing Arts Building Mainstage.