Park officials announced today a temporary closure in effect at Keys View because of a high number of bees in the area. Access to the area will be closed from June 24 until July 2 due to concerns over visitor safety.
Bees need water for a variety of reasons, but especially in the heat of the summer to cool their hives. It is estimated that a hive requires a liter of water or more each day during hot summer days. By removing the bee buckets and not allowing visitors to provide water (dumping out water bottles, AC condenser units); it will force established hives in the area to move due to a lack of a consistent water source.
The park resource staff is hopeful that this measure will significantly reduce the number of bees in the area and will be carefully monitoring the results.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
