The buzz in the Birch Tree Inn lately hasn’t been about new food offerings, but rather a hornets nest that has closed down the pay cafe for several days in early October. The seating area of Ramapo’s only open dining hall on campus was closed for a few days due to hornets coming inside the seating area.
Initially, according to General Manager of Ramapo College Dining Services, Jeffrey Dannhardt, the infestation was thought to be limited to the outdoor patio area of Birch.
“Pest Control was brought in to treat that area and unfortunately due to the treatment and the changeover in weather, the bees found an escape route into the building,” Dannhardt said.
At first, only part of the indoor seating area was closed, Danhardt said.
“Several bees were noticed on the windows inside near the booth area of Birch Tree Inn, so the area was immediately roped off as a precaution to both students and staff,” he said. “While the Bees were not being aggressive, we felt it best to err on the safe side for everyone’s benefit.”
The decision to close the entire seating area in Birch Tree Inn was made by Public Safety, as a precaution to students, staff and faculty that were to sit in the hall for their meals.
Although the seating area has since reopened, as a temporary measure Ramapo College Dining Services is able to provide to-go boxes for students with bee allergies or concerns related to this situation, said Vice President for Operational and Administrative Integration Michael Yankovich.
An outside pest control vendor has been called in to handle the situation, Yankovich said. The outside vendor helped identify where bees were entering Birch Tree Inn and applied the proper treatment to get rid of the bees safely.
“Our 3rd party pest control vendor responded the week of the 23rd and the week of the 30th to treat the area,” Director of Facilities Alan Kashian said.
“The issue was attended to as soon as we were made aware of the situation,” said Kashian.
Kashian said the contractor was on site and applied the initial treatment the same day it was discovered.
Yankovich stated the vendor returned because the situation had not improved as quickly as they were hoping after the initial treatment.
Now, as part of a solution to the problem, the area where bees were entering the building is being monitored on a daily basis and bee traps have been temporarily placed inside Birch Tree Inn.
“From my point of view I looked at how Birch was built with a gate as a door… if it had gotten worse, bees/wasps could easily have been able to get to other sections of the Student Center and the academic buildings,” said sophomore Raven Harelick.
One possible option that did not have to be put in place was shifting dining services to the Trustees Pavilion.
“As this was viewed to be a precautionary and short-term situation, and with the Pavilion being currently closed, the decision was made to operate as we did rather than move Birch Tree Inn operations to the Pavilion,” Danhardt said. “I am happy to report that there was no reduction to service hours” during the remediation efforts.
This situation has improved greatly within the past week. “The treatments appear to be working. The number of bees has gone down substantially, and the remaining bees are very sluggish,” Yankovich said. “The contractor told us to expect the situation to clear up completely within the next few days as the treatments continue to work and as bee season winds down as temperatures fall.”
“We believe the situation to be controlled at this point. However, should you see any activity, please avoid the area and bring it to the attention of a manager,” said Danhardt.
jgray11@ramapo.edu
Featured photo by Jessica Amabile
