Bee swarm relocated from First United Methodist Church

“They can’t prove it was from our hive,” said Belleville Area District Library Director Mary Jo Suchy with a smile when she told the library board of the swarm of bees that had to be relocated from the Belleville First United Methodist Church across the street from the library.
At the library board meeting on July 11, she reported that two weeks earlier the library was informed that a swarm of bees had formed in the tree by the Methodist Church, presumably from the hives on the library roof.
Director Suchy said Bees in the D reached out to an associate in Monroe County who came out within an hour to collect and re-home the bees.
“I learned that it is a sign of a healthy hive when they split off like this,” Suchy said. “I also learned that bees in a swarm have recently eaten and are pretty docile. Swarms generally dissipate on their own after one or two days, if they are not re-homed.”
The library has hives of honey bees on its roof. The bees were put in place and managed by Bees in the D.
In other business at the 40-minute meeting, the board:
• Heard Suchy report that the building committee has been considering options and O’Neal Construction is preparing a mock-up showing the addition of two horizontal bars to the top of the porch railing on the second floor. The rods could be fabricated and added by either the original company or a local fabricator. An option is an entirely new unit to replace what is there. There are no costs yet and more information is forthcoming;
• Learned Matt Ratzow and Dean Kokkales from O’Neal Construction met with Acting City Manager Steve Jones and City Building Official Rick Rutherford regarding the Roys Street sidewalk project. O’Neal said it would be willing to assist with further plumbing troubleshooting inside the church. Rutherford said the city would not stand in the way of the sidewalk being poured. No representative of Grace Baptist Church attended the meeting and proposed new tests using lots more dye is contingent on the church’s interest;
• Learned O’Neal is also pursuing a repair to one of the flagpole lights. Suchy said one of the library’s rooftop HVAC units has been shutting down about once a day and must be manually reset in order to ooperate. Long Mechanical has been contacted to look into this;
• Heard Julie Kissel announce the Red Cross Blood Drive sponsored by the Belleville Fire Department and Auxiliary on Friday, July 28, from noon to 6 p.m. at LifePointe Church on Hull Road, near Sumpter Road. Kona Ice will be there along with a jump house, dunk tank, music, and food;
• Heard board member John Juriga say he always drives around the library on his way home from the Romulus Recreation Center each morning. He said on his drive on the Fourth of July, he saw that kids had taken the barriers down from the sidewalk project and put them across Roys Street. He said drivers were turning around because they thought the street was closed. Juriga said he called the police and they removed the barriers from the street;
• Heard Suchy report that the Summer Reading Programs have begun with a bang. She said happy children are attending the programs, getting reading prizes, and leaving with armloads of books. She reported that the library’s Lakefest tent was a success. More than 100 people visited the tent and staff was able to issue more than 10 library cards;
• Learned newly hired clerk Lisa Meadows has joined the library’s circulation services team. She came to Belleville after working at the Detroit Public Library for many years. Shelver Cecilia Powers is training to become a circulation clerk and Kennedy Plummer is home from college for the summer and returns to shelving. They also welcomed newly hired shelver Micaya Cannon;
• Reviewed a report on the fiscal year which ended June 30, that showed the numbers were up in every category for use of the library from the 2021-22 to the 2022-23 years at the main location. The numbers for use of the Sumpter Media Center are doing much better now and have been slowly growing since 2020 when it opened. Board chairperson Sharon Peters asked Suchy to make sure Sumpter Township gets a copy of the Media Center report;
• Was advised art committee chairperson Michele Montour hung the loaned artworks in the Quiet Study Room on the second floor. Also, several pieces of art displayed by Ed Good in the library have been sold;
• Heard Juriga report that Music in the Park is on Thursdays at 7 p.m. at Horizon Park. He said the first weekly concert had to move to the Methodist Church because of rain. The second concert was moved indoors because of air quality. But the third concert, the previous week, brought 500 people. Juriga said he bought a case of chalk for the children to use during the concerts to draw on High Street. He said the library could supply chalk to children during Farmer’s Markets and the Main Street Car Shows so they could draw on the bollards at the front of the library. He said the rain would just wash it off;
• Was advised that Comic Book workshops will be held from 6:30 to 7: 30 p.m. on July 24 and July 31 to get ready for the Aug. 5 Comic Fest at the library; and
• Learned three board members would not be present for the Aug. 8 regular meeting. It will not be a problem, if all four of the other members can attend, but if not they will have to call off the meeting for lack of a quorum. They haven’t called off a board meeting since the beginning of the pandemic, Suchy said.