CW took a few days to get to the job, He needed to show up at the end of the day when the air was cooling off and he had finished his mechanic's job for the day. So I wasn't there when he was.
But what a surprise to have him call and say that the bees were too aggressive for him to manage. He got 12 stings alone on one arm. He called that evening apologetic to advise me that I should call a local pest control company. He thought that the bees were so aggressive that perhaps they were African bees. I left them a message that evening to call me ASAP in the morning as the foundation contractor moved me up on the schedule for the next day.
Back to finding a beekeeper. The pest control company turned down the job because they weren't equipped with gear or expertise. They suggested I call the Fire Department, maybe they could come in with a ladder truck and foam them out. Well as you might expect, I gave them quite a giggle. Then they referred me to animal control which also turned me down. Finally I got another referral for a bee-keeper who was willing to drive down to help me out. A real nice fellow, Greg. He is a fireman in the city. Must have been a boyscout too, as he had everything he needed to kill them. They were so aggressive that it would be very difficult and it was early enough in the year that there probably wasn't much honey to harvest.
He had been with other bees before coming to my place. They must have been able to tell somehow because they began to circle him as soon as he got close and then followed him to his truck. Perhaps they sensed - or smelled them. He got on his traditional gear and set to work. While we decided not to take off all the boards until we really needed to clean out the hive, there were some really old combs exposed at the bottom. I saved them. Who knows, maybe I can paint them gold!
But what a surprise to have him call and say that the bees were too aggressive for him to manage. He got 12 stings alone on one arm. He called that evening apologetic to advise me that I should call a local pest control company. He thought that the bees were so aggressive that perhaps they were African bees. I left them a message that evening to call me ASAP in the morning as the foundation contractor moved me up on the schedule for the next day.
Back to finding a beekeeper. The pest control company turned down the job because they weren't equipped with gear or expertise. They suggested I call the Fire Department, maybe they could come in with a ladder truck and foam them out. Well as you might expect, I gave them quite a giggle. Then they referred me to animal control which also turned me down. Finally I got another referral for a bee-keeper who was willing to drive down to help me out. A real nice fellow, Greg. He is a fireman in the city. Must have been a boyscout too, as he had everything he needed to kill them. They were so aggressive that it would be very difficult and it was early enough in the year that there probably wasn't much honey to harvest.
He had been with other bees before coming to my place. They must have been able to tell somehow because they began to circle him as soon as he got close and then followed him to his truck. Perhaps they sensed - or smelled them. He got on his traditional gear and set to work. While we decided not to take off all the boards until we really needed to clean out the hive, there were some really old combs exposed at the bottom. I saved them. Who knows, maybe I can paint them gold!