When you’re doing bee control jobs, you just never know what kind of problems you’re going to run into! Termite Terry got a call this past week from a homeowner that had just purchased a home and while he was getting ready to paint and put in new carpet, he found out that he had a bee hive growing inside of his bedroom wall. The new owner said that he had the painters, carpet layers, plumbers and the TV cable guys all working at his house and that he needed this bee problem fixed right now so that they could put his house back together.
Termite Terry and his pest technician, “D.J.” David Salamin, took a look at the wall. Ordinarily, this would have been a simple job of just opening the wall, treating the bees and removing the hive. But, with a dozen or more workers running all over the house, this could turn into a disaster. Think of what would happen if thousands of bees got loose inside of the house while all of these guys were working! Termite Terry was really concerned because he could only imagine seeing these contractors being attacked by bees, falling off their ladders and getting hurt.
Everyone was in a hurry to get their jobs done and no one wanted to stop working. So, Terry and D.J. had to come up with a new plan. After thinking about it, they marked out a spot on the wall where they thought the bee hive was located, got their saw and cut out a hole. But, they stopped just short of opening the wall because they wanted to put a clear plastic bag over the area, first. The plastic bag was carefully taped over the area. They left extra slack in the middle of the bag so that they could squeeze their hand under it. That way, they would have some working room and be able to finish cutting the hole.
D.J. closed the bedroom door and windows so that the bees couldn’t fly all over the house if they did get loose. However, that meant that Termite Terry and D.J. were now trapped inside the room with an angry mob of bees right there. D.J. put on his gloves and carefully put his hand under the plastic to finish cutting out the hole. Terry held the plastic down to keep the bees from getting out. After finishing the cut, D.J. opened up the hole in the wall and there it was. A huge bee hive with thousands of angry bees! D.J. pulled out his hand and Terry taped up the rest of the plastic bag. The bees are now roaring loudly and are flying all around inside of the bag, trying to escape. It was scary.
They ran downstairs and out to the truck to get a can of pyrethrum spray. Pyrethrum is a natural product made from chrysanthemum flowers. This product is low in toxicity and offers a quick knock down effect. D.J. carefully punctured a small pin hole in the plastic bag that was taped over the bee hive. He then inserted the small nozzle tube from the spray can through the bag and pulled the trigger. Instantly, the bees started thundering and came out flying toward D.J. in droves. But, he kept his cool and kept shooting. In only a minute, the bees started passing out and falling down inside the plastic bag. Terry and D.J. waited about five minutes to make sure it was safe.
Terry grabbed a large black trash bag and held it up against the wall as D.J. pulled the tape off the clear plastic bag. Thousands of dead bees fell into the big black bag. Not a single bee managed to escape.
D.J. and Termite Terry managed to pull at least ten pounds of honey out of that wall. They cleaned up what was left and covered up the hole in the wall. Everything worked out perfectly and none of the contractors in that house ever missed a beat while doing their jobs.
If you’re ever in a spot where you’ve got a special situation with bees or any other pest and you need someone that will give you answers instead of excuses, call “Termite” Terry Pest Control at (949) 631-7348. Or, click here and use their handy online order form.
