Wasp nest, beehive removal closes Glendale park until Friday

A Glendale park will be closed until Friday after landscapers discovered multiple wasp nests and beehives during routine tree trimming, according to a city official.

Beekeepers worked Tuesday to remove the hives and nests from palm trees at Manistee Ranch Park, at 52nd and Northern avenues.

City spokeswoman Roberta Bonaski said the park was empty when the beehives were located during regular maintenance of the park. No injuries were reported, and Bonaski said no residents were endangered during the removal.

A professional beekeeper, Arizona-based Total Bee Control Inc., was hired to remove the bees, Bonaski said.

Jerry Keele, a supervisor at Total Bee, said the company is called every year during maintenance at the park and finds several nests each time.

"So many people walk over there, (the city) doesn't want people to get stung," he said. "Wasps sting worse than bees. They can get you over and over again."

Keele estimated there were about 30 affected palm trees in the area and that beekeepers would be counting the nests during the three-day closure. He said beekeepers would use a variety of methods to kills the pests, depending on the location of the nests.

If out in the open, beekeepers could spray the nest with insecticide, but if they have burrowed into a hole or are too high to be reached by the spray, he said they would either freeze or smoke the bugs.

"Every time is different," Keele said. "If they're out in the open, it's easy. They like to build underneath the palm leaves because it's shaded."

Beekeepers encountered both yellow jackets and black wasps, Keele said. While yellow-jacket nests get as big as a dinner plate with just a few wasps inside, he said black wasps can build nests up to 4 feet long housing 300 to 400 wasps.