Tulsa Zoo Creates Plan To Keep Swarms Of Bees, People, Safe

The nice weather means it’s swarming season for bees looking for new places to set up shop.

This year, at places where those swarms might meet – like the Tulsa Zoo – there’s a plan in place to help keep both swarms of bees, and people, safer.

The zoo has lots of places where bee like to gather.

Conservation Research Manager Rick Kutarsky said, “This is the time when they are really gearing up and looking for those food sources.”

At the zoo, there are plenty of places near the exhibits that will attract both bees and people, so the zoo has a bee, wasp and hornet plan with information on how to handle close encounters.

"It's more just the presence of them and letting people know why there is a presence of them," Kutarsky said.

It also lets you know what to do in case the encounter is too close - how to get first aid if you need it.

Bees are important; Kutarsky said they’re the only insects that produce a food that people eat.

That’s just one reason why the zoo provides plenty of areas where bees and other pollinators can thrive.

The plan on the website is there to help make sure people are aware of the other free-ranging critters visiting the zoo.