Bees, bats at The Windsor in downtown Abilene forced to relocate

A day after a two-alarm fire at the Abilene Reporter-News shut down a city block, downtown was again a beehive of activity Friday.

This time, it was a crew in a crane at the Windsor Apartment Homes, there to remove  hives of bees and a colony of bats.

Stationed in the 400 block of Pine Street, the crane lifted two beekeepers in a bucket to the 10-story building’s eaves. Their target was to safely remove 10 hives.

“I’ve been here four years, and the bees have been there longer than that,” said Amanda Williams, communications director for the apartment.

The crew also is taking steps to force the rooftop bat colony to not return after they fly off Friday night, said Josh Alexander, operations manager for Wildlife X Team said.

The bees have not been a major issue for apartment residents, but a bat would occasionally find its way into the building, Williams said.

“We needed to take care of it before it gets worse,” she said about the bees and bats.

Inconvenience caused by the crane is only supposed to Friday, but the entire removal and clean-up of the eaves and roof will take a week, Alexander said.

Sweet project

Alexander said a couple of the hives were 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide or bigger. The beekeepers placed the hives in bags. The honey is being saved.

“I tasted some of it. It was good,” Williams said.

A disinfectant will be applied to the area to clean the space and remove the pheromones that help bees find their way to the hives, Alexander said.

“We remove the hives so the bees will relocate,” he said.

Go to bat

Alexander has been monitoring The Windsor at night to determine where the bats migrate from the building for nocturnal feedings. He estimated that the colony had about 1,000 bats.

Friday, the roof was being sealed except for one corner, where a funnel will be installed to serve as the bats' only exit point. The funnel is at a 90-degree angle, which will hamper their return to the roof, Alexander said.

“They will migrate somewhere else,” he said.

The Wildlife X Team crew then will don hazmat suits and respirators to remove the bat guano and disinfect the roof. The sealer on the roof will prevent the bats from re-homing to the space, Alexander said.