With a part of her sidewalk barricaded, Haley Devine was shocked to come home over the Labor Day weekend to find a pile of dead honey bees near a beloved hive on her property.

“They turned black and crusty,” Devine said.

Devine, 28, grew up in the house at Northeast 6th Avenue and Jackson Street. In front of it, a big Elm tree has become the home of a beloved honey beehive, which has visible honeycombs. The city of Hillsboro sprayed the hive sometime last week, Devine said, killing some of the bees and doing so without telling her.

The hive has been there for at least three years. There’s never been a stinging accident and Devine’s brother has even done yard work in the area without any problems. Community members use it to teach their kids about bees and their contributions to the ecosystem.

The Devines said the city never contacted them before spraying the bees or setting up the barricade with yellow caution tape and a warning: “Caution: Bees Ahead.” The barricaded area included the tree and the sidewalk in a 25-foot-long area. The barricade has been removed as of Friday.

but the property owners say the city overreacted and overreached.

“I wish somebody had talked to me. If there’s one complaint and a thousand compliments --they acted on a single complaint and did not ask people, especially the people who own the property,” Devine said.

In the week-long saga, Devine said they were also told the hive would be exterminated. Neighbors immediately started posting things to the Elm tree to save the hive.

“We love bees. We need bees,” reads one message.

“Shame on you, city of Hillsboro!” reads another.

Shaun Starr lives in the neighborhood and called the city response “panicked.” He’s one of several who have demanded an answer from the city.

“All the neighbors know of it and see the bees as good neighbors pollinating our garden flowers. Many take a walk to check on the bees, and some neighbors take their children to see the bees,” Starr said.

The neighborhood uproar over the

have, apparently, prompted the city to back off, Devine said. She said the city has agreed to leave it alone but has not directly apologized for the incident.

“I just want people to know the difference between honey bees and yellow jackets so things like this don’t happen again,” Devine said.

She added: “They are honey bees, they can’t really do anything bad. They are good and the population is dwindling so we should do our best to keep them around.”

Despite repeated calls and emails requesting information, the city of Hillsboro has not provided any information on what happened.

UPDATE, 4:15 p.m.:

City spokeswoman Barbara Simon said the public works department received a call about yellow jackets swarming in the area on Aug. 29 and sprayed it as a public safety measure.

The area is within the public right of way, Simon said, although city code requires the property owner to maintain the tree itself.

When the experienced workers, she said, saw yellow jackets, they used over-the-counter bee spray to kill them. During the attack, a neighbor told the workers it was a honeybee hive. The workers eventually stopped spraying once they realized there were honeybees.

The barricade was then put up because the bees became agitated after the spraying. Simon said the city did not intend to kill or remove the honeybees or the hive.

Simon said they contacted the property owner on Sept. 4 and said it was not a mistake for the city to spray because it was a public safety issue in the public right of way.

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