Evicted Northeast Bees Get Temporary Reprieve

Northeast Portland beekeeper LaTisha Strickland, whose bees got an eviction notice from her property management company, gets to hang on to the colonies for a bit longer.

Strickland's story was reported first by WW in last week's Murmurs and then picked up by KOIN. She called the eviction of her 240,000 bees a particular tragedy considering the recent bee die-offs in Wilsonville and Hillsboro.

Strickland, who has had the bees in the backyard of her rental property for three years without problems, was informed a neighbor complained and the bees had to go by July 7, or both she and the hives would be out. The eviction was tantamount to a death sentence for thousands of the bees, Strickland says, because it is too hot to move them now.

But on July 5, Strickland says that a representative from Fox Property Management came by, and the two talked for and hour while she gave the representative a tour of her colonies.

"She said she understood about the difficulty for the bees in being moved when it is too hot," Strickland writes in an email update. "So, for now, I have a little more time before I have to move them. She didn't give me a timeline to move them. She said I very much most likely will have to move them still, but that it can be a bit later when things are better for the bees. She said she'd talk with FOX legal council about the issue, and possibly talk with the neighbor who complained, to see about how things could maybe go a different way."

Strickland says she hopes she has until the beginning of October before she does have to move them. But she's still holding out hope that they all can stay.

"I am still praying that the bees and I can simply continue to live peacefully here at my place, and that the neighbors chill out and relax," she writes. "We need to be protective and supportive of our pollinators now more than ever!!"

A receptionist for Fox Management Company says they are not speaking to the media.