For homeowners and property managers around Bryan and College Station, Cornerstone Honey Bees offers live honey bee removal and relocation. Chris and Dalene Barnes started the operation in 2013 – originally, by their own telling, as a hobby to earn an agricultural valuation on their property taxes – and grew it into a full apiary business after Chris retired from Texas A&M University. Today the couple manages more than fifty hives from their home base on Wallis Road in Bryan.
Swarms and established hives call for different approaches, and an experienced beekeeper matches the method to how and where the bees have settled. Cornerstone performs both swarm captures and full colony removals, and its credentials in the removal world run deep: the operation is a member of the Texas Association of Professional Bee Removers, and Chris serves on that organization’s Board of Directors. The Barneses also helped establish the Brazos Valley Beekeepers Association in 2014 and remain active in its leadership.
A Resource for Brazos Valley Beekeeping
Removal is one branch of a broader operation. Cornerstone sells honey and beeswax, offers hive tours, supplies hives and nucleus colonies to new beekeepers, teaches education and training classes, and leases hives to landowners pursuing the same agricultural property-tax exemption that first drew the Barneses into beekeeping.
Swarm season in the Brazos Valley generally runs March through June, when colonies divide and scout for new cavities. Reach out for an assessment – terms and any fees are set by the beekeeper.
