Facilities Factoid (clip and save for valuable future reference):
PebbleCreek works with a pest control service to keep our buildings and sports complexes free of nuisances like ants, bees, flies, mice, scorpions and spiders. Monthly treatments and inspections help keep us pest free.
This month’s high maintenance tale:
Can you guess why bees hum? No, it’s not because they’ve forgotten the words to the song. Bees hum by vibrating their wing muscles and thorax (the middle segment of their body) while visiting flowers and these vibrations shake the pollen off the flower and onto the bee’s body.
While bees serve a significant role in pollination and ecology, it’s not a good idea to have their colonies in close proximity where they can pose a medical threat to people and a structural threat to buildings. Ken Sergio, PebbleCreek Golf Resort Facilities Manager, reports that so far this year our pest control service has moved eight big nests and a number of smaller colonies.
“Bees who discover PebbleCreek fall in love with all the food and water we have to offer,” Ken noted. “We also provide a lot of dream sites for them to set up a colony. One of their more creative locations was inside the posts that support the sun sails over the Tuscany Falls swimming pool. The top end of the poles was open, so the bees made very tall condo-type colonies inside.” Because the colonies weren’t discovered for some time, Ken says eliminating them was especially difficult. Other favorite sites include our many irrigation boxes. Most recently, a large colony was removed near the Renaissance Theatre. Ken thinks those bees might have been theatrical “wanna bees.”
PebbleCreek’s Facilities Department is responsible for the maintenance and repair of all PebbleCreek-owned building facilities, common areas, streets, street lights, property block walls, tennis, basketball, Pickleball and bocce-ball courts, fitness centers, swimming pools, parks, spa and softball field. Led by Director Ken Sergio, the department includes an administrator, 11 housekeepers and 12 maintenance staffers. The Facilities Department has staff working 24/7. Office telephone: 623-935-6755.