Sandra Yeaman

A few weeks ago we bought a rotating composter in order to take up gardening and reduce our waste footprint. I even read that composting is a positive step to address our water shortage in California. All good things. What could go wrong?

Sunday I noticed a couple of bees flying around the composter when I went out to rotate it. I checked out “bees in compost” online and read that it is not unusual for bees to be attracted to compost, but so long as they are not wasps or hornets, it’s no big deal.

Then, this morning, I went out and rotated it a few times again, this time using a broom handle to keep my distance from any bees that might still be in the area. The photo above is what I saw from my office window a few hours later.

The Bee Guys will be here in about an hour. They don’t use pesticides. Instead, they vacuum up the bees and relocate them. I don’t know if we’ll keep composting after this experience, however.