By Rebecca Henely
Authorities removed an estimated 3 million bees in 45 hives from a Corona man’s backyard last week, and the president of the New York City Beekeepers Association has accused their former owner of more sticky shenanigans in using the hives to sell diluted honey to a bakery.
“This is simply a man who did what he wanted to do without any regard for his neighbors or his bees,” said Andrew Cote, the association’s president.
Police said a 911 call for a swarm of bees at 111th Street near 42nd Avenue came in at 7:32 p.m. Aug. 22. The NYPD’s beekeeper and others removed the hives, which were taken to the Silvermine Apiary in Norwalk, Conn.
Six other hives had been found behind his Astoria restaurant called Kitaku, at 29-21 23rd Ave.
No charges were levied against beekeeper Yi Gin Chen, 58, police said.
Chen, a Chinese immigrant, told the New York Post he had been keeping bees since he was a young boy.
“I keep the bees like a dog or a pet,” Chen told the Post.
The TimesLedger was unable to contact Chen for further comment.
Cote, who was one of the beekeepers who helped remove the hives Aug. 22, said Chen acted irresponsibly. He said Chen had called the association about a month ago for help in selling the bees and the honey, but they had found he had not registered his hives with the city.
“We advised him that in two weeks we would have to let the Department of Health know that the hives were there,” Cote said.
Chen had called Cote Aug. 22 to help remove the bees after the 911 call. Cote said he came at 8 p.m., after the police and media had arrived, to seal up the hives and prepare them for transport and was at the scene for nine hours. He said the bee population, which he estimated at about 3 million living in 45 hives, were in “shambles.” They had been stripped of all honey and the bees had curable diseases which were not being treated.
“I’ve never seen a situation of such negligent and willfully abusive beekeeping,” Cote said.
The number of bees in Chen’s backyard were greater than the documented residents of Queens, Cote said. He said Chen had claimed he had a hive five years ago and the bees had grown to that population naturally throughout the years.
“That’s just not something that happens,” Cote said. “That’s like saying my wife got pregnant and she had 20 babies next month.”
Cote said Chen had also been selling some honey — which was diluted with what appeared to be corn syrup — to a bakery, which Cote chose not to name. Cote showed TimesLedger Newspapers pictures of soy sauce buckets with the name “Kitaku” written on them in black marker that were filled with honey.
Chen denied selling any diluted honey, the Post reported.
“It’s an absolute baldfaced lie,” Chen said to the Post.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
