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That's because the city in this case was located in a hollow limb of a dead sumac tree, and the residents were honeybees.
The sumac is located in the playground of the Fairfield YMCA on the Old Post Road. The hive, a small one as beehives go, was relocated to Milford, where beekeeper Ralph Harrison lives.
By 7 a.m. Monday, Harrison, along with YMCA facilities manager Bob Lewis and town arborist John Carrano, were at the base of the tree, eyes skyward, preparing a plan of action to remove the hive. YMCA officials feared the hive could pose a threat to children when bees are more active in warmer weather. The hive was about 50 feet up in a branch that was dripping with honey and beeswax.
Harrison, a veteran of "a bunch" of beehive relocations, said that the early-morning hour was critical to the moving operation. "They won't fly unless it's 50 degrees," he said. "We don't want too many of them taking off."
Harrison's plan, although decidedly low-tech, proved effective. Aloft with Carrano in the bucket, Harrison used a smoker to calm the hive. The smoker uses smoldering pine needles to produce clouds of "nice, cool smoke" with the fragrance of incense.
"That does two things," Harrison said. "A bee has two stomachs. When it smells smoke, it thinks that there's a forest fire, so it fills its honey stomach with honey
With the help of Carrano's cherry picker, he wrapped the limb with aluminum insect fabric, using a staple gun to fasten the screen in place.
A female squirrel was holed up inside the limb, and made a last-minute dash for safety, surprising Carrano and Harrison. Meanwhile, a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers warily observed the commotion from a nearby tree.
Harrison used duct tape to affix a wet bath towel over the top of the limb. "The cool, wet towel will help calm them down," Harrison said of the bees in the disturbed hive.
With this wrapping in place, it was Carrano's turn to tie off the limb with climbing rope and lop it off with a chain saw. Only two bees escaped the makeshift prison, and patrolled their hive as best they could.
"Will the vibration from the chain saw stir them up?" Carrano asked.
"Oh, sure!" Harrison said. "But don't worry — it's all wrapped up."
Both Harrison and Carrano wore beekeeper's veils — a wide-brimmed hat with a pull-down insect screen attachment.
A quick cut with Carrano's chain saw and the limb was swinging free on the rope, then gently lowered to the ground and placed in the back of Harrison's pickup.
"Oh, they'll be pretty upset by the time I get them home," he said.
Years ago, the hive would have been destroyed with a dose of insecticide. But today, with insect pollinators suffering from such ills as colony collapse disorder and mite infestations, they've become a valuable commodity.
"People have finally realized how important bees are to our lives," Harrison said. He added that this particular hive had run out of room in the rotting limb and had begun to build honeycombs on the outside. "When that happens, they'll usually cast off a swarm," he said.
Harrison said that he'll set up the bees with new digs in Milford, where they'll have a lot more room.
"I've already dug a hole for the branch — I'll put the branch in the hole, and over that I'll put a manmade hive to give them someplace to go. From now on, they'll be working for me."
But Fairfielders will have a chance to taste honey made from the hive's labors. Harrison, who sells honey, as well as other bee-related products, will have a booth at the Fairfield Historical Society's Fall Festival, set for Sept. 14.
"What will happen to the stragglers left behind?" asked Lewis.
"Oh, don't worry about them," Harrison said. "They might hang around for a couple of days, but with nothing to protect, they won't be too aggressive."
The project didn't leave much of a sting in the YMCA's budget. "This was a freebie," Harrison said. "I usually charge $300 for this."
