Students from Brownsboro FFA assist with the installation of a renovated hive that should allow the honeybees to stay in the Rose Garden year-round.

Honeybees buzzed as thousands were returned to the Tyler Rose Garden’s Observation Hive complimenting sweet-smelling roses Wednesday morning.

East Texas Beekeepers Association representatives collected the bees in the fall to protect the hive from winter weather, and the bees are brought back as temperatures rise.

The East Texas Beekeepers Association, C.N.C Honey Farm and volunteers from Boy Scouts of America built the original observation hive in August 2020.

Keep Tyler Beautiful collaborated with Daniel Lennon of Flint Farm & Apiary to design a new observation hive to ensure the bees can stay in the Rose Garden all year around.

“I am most excited about people being able to get in and investigate. I think our old version had some issues with the health of the bees. This version, you’re going to be able to see a healthy hive,” said Erin Garner, Keep Tyler Beautiful community coordinator.

Additional signage will provide people with even more information on bees.

The traditional style frame will allow the bees to build their honeycomb, which wasn’t possible with the previous format.

The transparent observation hive allows people to see how and in what shapes the bees build the honeycomb. It will enable people to get up close and personal with the bees.

“We want people to get rid of that stigma that bees are scary. They’re really interesting animals. They have a lot of really exciting things that you can learn about,” Garner said. “When you come here and see them, you can look at the queen. You can see in the cells, their larvae and the stages that they’re growing in. They’re different ages; different types of bees, whether it’s drones, workers, females, have different body shapes.”

Students from Brownsboro FFA built the hive, assisted with its installation and will maintain it throughout the year. Several other local schools will also help.

“It is a swarm that we caught,” said Kimber Womack, Brownsboro FFA member. “They only had one little frame of pollen. That’s all they started with; the rest in there they have created.”

Womack was unsure when Brownsboro FFA decided to add beekeeping to its program, but it’s become an enjoyable and transformative experience to work with, learn about and harvest honey from bees.

“We fixed the observation hive by adding more [ventilation] holes, the best that we could with what we were given, and they all seem to be doing good,” Womack said. “The queen is a little startled, but whenever they start settling down, she’ll pop out.”

The additional ventilation will help the bees survive colder temperatures.

Bees are essential not only to the ecosystem but to food sources. Garner said one in every three bites of food people eat is thanks to pollinators like bees.

The City of Tyler is one of six cities in Texas to be designated a Bee City USA under the Keep Tyler Beautiful program. A Bee City USA affiliate’s mission is to educate and raise awareness in the community on the importance of all pollinator species, including honey bees.

Keep Tyler Beautiful and the Bee Committee have the following upcoming pollinator events:

Bee Committee Meeting – from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 9, at the Rose Garden Center, 420 Rose Park Drive. The meeting is open to bee enthusiasts of all ages.

National Pollinator Week – June 19 through June 25. Follow Tyler Parks and Rec on Facebook for more information.

Bee Day in the Garden – from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 24 at the Tyler Rose Garden. Vendors, music, workshops and activities for all ages.