On April 10, many news outlets reported that "a massive swarm of bees" had invaded the Renwick Gallery. They were, of course, idiots.
The real story, at least to a beekeeper, is much more adventuresome, unlikely, encouraging, and just plain fun. Trust me, you wish you were there!
It begins
After the request for advice from Smithsonian Entomologist Allison Dineen came in on March 3, 2026, several DC beekeepers made a few side bets.
Was the large amount of comb between two columns near the top of the Renwick Gallery (just across from the White House) just a 2025 dead out? Was it a concerning protrusion from a colony that was mostly inside the brick? Or was it (riskiest bet of all) a colony that had wintered strong at height in the open at one of the most secure places on Earth with nobody noticing until the first flying days of Spring? Well, almost nobody.
From March 3 to April 10, a team including the Renwick building manager, Smithsonian Entomology, DC's Urban Forestry Division, the US Secret Service, Adirondack Tree Experts, the DC Beekeepers Alliance, and volunteer local beekeepers worked together to retrieve this colony. DCBA's role was to connect everyone (bucket trucks from DC's Urban Forestry then Adirondack Tree Experts), security, museum administration, Federal proposal and invoicing systems, building management and the club insurance company. Fun fact! DCBA now has the Smithsonian Institution as an additional insured!
But it was Billy Mullenax who went up in the bucket on April 10 at 7 AM. He was trying to get the bees before they started flying, but not while they were too cold to be moved. This Spring was not helpful for making this prediction.
Billy rode up and eventually retrieved over 16 combs of bees (there were lots of other, smaller combs attached among the architectural scrolling) using a backpack vac with an additional bucket. It took 3.5 hours, both buckets, and battery life of the vac to complete the day's work. It was not possible to scrape all the surfaces clean. Plans were made should the removal need to be continued.
So, about the colony. Who won the bet? Well, the person who said they overwintered outdoors!
But wait, there's more
Most of the team thought that the bees were not detected until March, but this was not quite true. A curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Dorothy Cheng, with a very special project had been visiting for a while to collect dead bees on the sidewalk.
The museum had recently acquired an artwork made from honey bee wings called Gold Veil by Luci Jockel, and she was collecting and working with dead bee wings to learn how best to care for and preserve it.
After the retrieval, she reached out to DCBA "in search of bee wings," but it turned out that she didn't need the help. One of her colleagues was already a member.
