Across the pond in Coventry, England, the Coventry Telegraph reports on a local company, Delta Pest Control, that relocated 20,000 bees from a residential roof.
Delta’s owner, David Bird, told BBC Coventry and Warwickshire that “it was a bit of a shock” to discover the bees after he and a tech removed some plasterboard at the account. He theorizes that the mild winter let them grow their population.
The pair began vacuuming (or “Hoovering,” the British term) the bees at low power, gentle enough to not harm them. The bees then went from a bucket to a special transport box and at press time were settling in with a local beekeeper.
The Telegraph shares a video of the vacuuming in action:
It reminds us of a story we reported on last fall, when Claude Griffin, owner of Gotcha Pest Control, Houston, Texas, removed more than 1 million Africanized honey bees from a home.
According to information he received from the homeowner, Griffin estimates that the two hives had been at the home between 10 and 20 years. He told PMP in a follow-up interview that not only did it take eight hours to remove the hives, which were between 9 and 12 feet tall, but also that he was laid up for two weeks because of all the stings that went right through his bee suit and other personal protective equipment.
So, now it’s your turn: What’s the biggest bee (or other stinging insect) job you’ve ever done? Got photos? If you had to do it over again, what — if anything — would you do differently? Was there anything particularly unusual about the case? Sound off below, or drop us a line at pmpeditor@northcoastmedia.net.
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