‘Heroes To Hives’ Program Helps Veterans & Bees

There’s been a sticky situation in one of the buildings at the governor’s mansion that needed to be handled immediately.  

“So, most people, their perception of honeybees would be maybe they’re better in the rural areas than in the metropolitan areas but that’s not the case,” said Steve Easom with Tru Bee Removal.  

So, when bees made a hive in one of the older buildings on the property of the governor’s mansion it was Heroes to Hives to the rescue.  

“What we do is we have a program, where we take veterans and first responders, and we train them in safe bee removals and then in bee keeping,” said Easom.  

Heroes to Hives is an online program through Michigan State University with hands on training done through Tru Bee Removal.  

“There’s a place there for the veteran or first responder to find out more about the program both the college course of heroes to hives and our hands on course are absolutely free,” said Easom.  

Charles Cheek served over 17 years in the Army National Guard, he suffers from anxiety and PTSD.  

“With bees I can go, and I can hang out with, and really I’m not bothering them, they’ll kind of buzz around, it’s almost a distraction and it just helps kind of calm down,” said Cheek.  

He completed the Heroes to Hives program in 2021, and there has been a noticeable change  

“I’m not really stressed about anything, I don’t have the pain in my chest that I get from being stressed, I don’t have any anger issues because most of the time I’m just worn out. I don’t know I just feel at peace,” said Cheek. 

As much as we love the honey they provide, there are other benefits to having bees.  

“Bees are very, very important, in that they pollinate many, many of our food sources,” said Easom.  

“I’ve had a peach tree for ten years that I’ve been here, and we’ve had enough to make some jam for the season, and he’s like this year my tree are just bowing with peaches,” said Cheek.  

A resource far outweighing their “stinging” reputation. 

“I ask most people that are really kind of afraid of bees, when was the last time you got stung, and many times it’s a younger person and they say well I’ve never gotten stung, or I’ve only been stung once,” said Easom.  

Beehives in Oklahoma can average between 40,000 and 60,000 bees, much larger than the hive that was removed from the Governor’s mansion  

“That was not what I would call an average hive, it was 20,000 to maybe 30,000 bees,” said Easom.  

For information about the Heroes to Hives program or to contact them for a bee removal visit their website www.trubeeremoval.com