A local Pest Control company sent a couple of guys out one evening to assess the situation and give us an estimate. (One of the guys was a former student of mine. Weird!) Anyways, they quoted me $250 to kill the bees and pull out the honeycomb and spray a chemical to kill any bees that may return. Oh the horror!
A bit later, Joe called to tell me that the beekeeper I'd contacted wanted to come out in the morning to see what he could do and give us an estimate. Hooray!
So Thursday morning, a little before 8:00, a nice man showed up at our house to take a gander at the bee colony in our attic. He just climbed right up in their little nook of the attic and got all up in their bidness. No bee suit or anything. They didn't even seem to notice, from what I was told (I was hiding with my dogs in a bedroom with the door shut). I was delighted at the validation that these were, in fact, docile European honeybees.
All the exterminators assured me that they were most likely Africanized and not desirable to beekeepers. (Even though these bees have never been aggressive when we've mowed, weedeated (or is it weed-ate? lol), and walked right underneath their entry point a gazillion times. And to think they wanted to wipe out these poor, innocent honeybees. I am ashamed I even contacted them. But I was getting desperate. We didn't want to be the people on the evening news with the house overrun with bees. Crisis averted!
A bit later, Joe called to tell me that the beekeeper I'd contacted wanted to come out in the morning to see what he could do and give us an estimate. Hooray!
So Thursday morning, a little before 8:00, a nice man showed up at our house to take a gander at the bee colony in our attic. He just climbed right up in their little nook of the attic and got all up in their bidness. No bee suit or anything. They didn't even seem to notice, from what I was told (I was hiding with my dogs in a bedroom with the door shut). I was delighted at the validation that these were, in fact, docile European honeybees.
All the exterminators assured me that they were most likely Africanized and not desirable to beekeepers. (Even though these bees have never been aggressive when we've mowed, weedeated (or is it weed-ate? lol), and walked right underneath their entry point a gazillion times. And to think they wanted to wipe out these poor, innocent honeybees. I am ashamed I even contacted them. But I was getting desperate. We didn't want to be the people on the evening news with the house overrun with bees. Crisis averted!
The date is set. On May 22nd, our bee savior is coming out early in the morning to vacuum up the bees with a special vacuum that won't harm them, remove their honeycomb, and transport them to his bee haven. Yay! I am going to try to work up the courage to take pictures. hmmm Do you think it would be tacky to ask Mr. Beekeeper to take a couple of pictures of the extraction?
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