Snapchat Is Angering Its Neighbors in L.A.
A disappearing bee colony becomes a symbol for the IPO-fueled growth locals fear will swamp the quirky Los Angeles neighborhood the startup calls home.
In November, a bee colony disappeared from a tree in Los Angeles’s Venice neighborhood. The knot holes around the hive, near the intersection of Cabrillo and Westminster and about five blocks from the ocean, had been sealed up with cement. Residents of the historic beach area soon discovered that Snap Inc., which rents a building nearby, was responsible for the bees’ removal. The act seemed to confirm their worst suspicions about their corporate neighbor: These were bad people.
Bryan Brogers, whose building is shaded by the tree, broke through the cement to get a look at the damage inside. “The honeycomb is all black now and no bees,” he wrote on the community forum Nextdoor. “I’m sure the queen bee was killed.” The post generated a chorus of 249 mostly outraged replies. Signs soon went up outside: “SNAPCHAT: BEE KILLER” and “ALL BEE LIVES MATTER.”