American Honey Bee Protection Agency tries to recover after devastating fire
Fire destroys several bee hives and equipment
Over the years, Walter Schumacher, better known as the "Bee Czar", has helped more than a few Central Texans out of some sticky situations. Now, he needs your help after a fire destroyed many of his hives and equipment.
AUSTIN, Texas - Over the years, Walter Schumacher, better known as the "Bee Czar", has helped more than a few Central Texans out of some sticky situations.
Now, he needs your help after a fire destroyed many of his hives and equipment.
Mustang Ridge fire
The backstory:
"A lot of memories. A lot of loss," said Schumacher.
Shumacher, who leads the American Honey Bee Protection Agency, is picking up the pieces after a fire on Friday, May 2, that severely damaged his operation in Mustang Ridge.
The flames destroyed tens of thousands of dollars of equipment, as well as some hives and what are known as "nukes", where he raises queen bees.
"All of our little baby nukes that had little baby queen eggs in it," said Schumacher. "That's all gone."
The bees that live here are all rescued from places all over Central Texas.
Often, it's people's water meters that are filled with honey bees.
Beekeeper loses hive, RV in fire
A beekeeper in Mustang Ridge is picking up the pieces after much of his equipment went up in flames.
In 2022, the Bee Czar relocated multiple hives from the wall of a building at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
FOX 7 was there as Schumacher removed around 100,000 bees from the wall of a South Austin apartment in 2018.
That same year, there was the time a crew of city workers was attacked at an abandoned East Austin home. Inside, Schumacher found 50,000 bees and several pounds of honey.
When a Creedmoor man was swarmed in 2021, Schumacher relocated the bees that were living under a home on his property, preventing another attack.
And who could forget when Schumacher rescued tens of thousands of bees from a giant "brain" at Jerry's Artarama in North Austin?
"I can speak to bees," said Schumacher. "They don't understand my words, but l smell their smells. And so I know when they're mad and it's time to walk away," said Schumacher.
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A beekeeper is picking up the pieces after much of his equipment went up in flames in Mustang Ridge on Friday afternoon. He's calling on the community to help him rebuild in order to continue his work.
"Bees are absolutely under threat," said Dr. Alex Wild, Curator of Entymology at the University of Texas at Austin.
Wild says the work Schumacher does is hugely important.
"Honeybees are really essential for a lot of our food," said Wild. "When you send a message, you're rescuing the bees, rather than just trying to get rid of them. It really helps communicate to the community. That bees are a thing that are worth preserving."
Wild says he totally understands why this fire was so devastating.
"Losing your nukes where you're breeding queens is like losing your seed corn. This is your efforts. These are the strains that are going to really help beekeepers out," said Wild.
Right now it's unclear what caused the fire, though Schumacher suspects it was a power line that failed. But with a little help, he's hopeful this place will be buzzing again soon.
"You gotta be like a bee," said Schumacher. "Bee says, 'oh, there's a fire. Let's go build a new place'. So that's what I'm going to do."
What you can do:
If you'd like to help, Schumacher's son has set up a GoFundMe to help with rebuilding.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's John Krinjak