One of the best things about working at a bee removal company is that we sometimes run into strange, odd, and funny situations. While bee removal can be a very serious and frightening issue to deal with for many people, this blog is dedicated to all the strange and zany things we encounter in the field.
Some of the craziest stories we have are of Do It Yourselfers, who come up bizarre ways of handling bee problems. But this blog is not about DIY’ers. This blog is about 3 normal, everyday people, who faced strange and/or funny bee problems.
1. Invisible Hive Inside House
Take for instance a really nice lady in Pacific beach who was renting out her vacation home in Pacific Beach. She called us up because she couldn’t figure out why bees kept accumulating in the window of the vacation rental.
We dispatched a technician out to the scene and he was surprised to see a few dozen inside the house, but no indication on where the swarm or hive was located. After performing an inspection of the entire exterior, he decided to check out the interior.
During the interior inspection, nothing was detected inside the home. Furniture was pulled apart, couch covers and pillows were removed, and undersides of tables inspected. No hive and no swarm in sight! The technician left a bit puzzled about the situation.
Over the next two weeks, our technician was called out to the same bungalow 2-3 more times. Each visit was the same. Dozens of bees would be flying in the window, but there was no sign of a swarm or a hive.
Needless to say, this began to frustrate the owner, the renters, and our technician. What the heck was going on here? Turns out that there was a bee hive, and it was inside the house! To be more specific, it was underneath and inside the very same couch that had been pulled apart inspected only a week or two earlier. It turned out that the swarm was deep inside and underneath the couch….right below where the renters would sit each and every day!
For nearly two weeks, a live bee swarm had taken up residence in the couch! They did not pay rent, and they did not leave a security deposit. Luckily they were very gentle squatters and no one was stung. It was definitely one of the oddest and most frustrating jobs in Bee Best history.
2. Honey Baked Bee Treats
This second story will appeal to all those with a sweet tooth. Its about a lady in La Mesa who was having trouble in the kitchen. It was her turn to bake a massive amount of cookies for the church sale. There was one problem…bees kept flying into her kitchen!
At first she opened her window so the bees could leave, but that didn’t solve the problem. Then she started to swat and kill them, but new bees would return and take their place. Neither shutting the windows, nor killing them off seemed to be helping. That’s when she called us for help.
We dispatched a technician who performed an external inspection. Like the previous incident in Pacific Beach, no hive or swarm was found. Puzzled by this finding, the technician knocked on the door to speak with the lady who was busy still trying to bake enough cookies for the church sale.
As he entered the home he was instantly struck by the delicious smell of all the baking.
“What kind of cookies are you baking” he asked. “They smell delicious…wouldn’t happen to have honey in them, would they?”
“Why yes” She replied. “They are Lemon Honey Cookies”
The technician started to laugh. The lady looked puzzled.
“Maam” he said “Your recipe not only smells delicious, but it is the perfect recipe to attract bees. The bees are entering your home because they like the smell of these cookies.”
“What can I do?” she asked.
“Can you bake chocolate chip instead?” he replied jokingly.
3. Beeast Mode Mailman
Our last story is about one man who is dedicated and determined to perform his job…not matter what! We like to call him the “beast mode, mailman”. Nothing was gonna stop this mailman from delivering the mail! Not even an agitated swarm of live bees.
It was a few days before Mother’s Day. A swarm of bees took residence in a tree directly above a series of mailboxes in a rental complex. Caution tape and red cones were placed nearby to warn people to stay away. As our technicians were in the process of performing the live bee removal, they noticed a mailman approaching area.
“Sir, get back” the technician shouted. “You need to keep away, we are removing bees live”.
The mailman retreated and headed over to the next set of mailboxes a bit further down the complex.
Afterwards, as the hive box and swarm were being loaded into the truck, the same mailman returned and tried to approach the scene again.
“Sir, you need to wait at least an hour or so for the straggler bees to calm down” he said. “You can’t deliver the mail right now, it’s not safe.”
The mailman huffed, but didn’t say anything. He retreated down the road once again. Or did he?
Out of the corner of his eye, one of the bee technicians notice the mailman lurking around the corner.
“He’s waiting for us to leave” he said. “As soon as we leave that mailman is gonna try to deliver the mail!”
It was now officially a showdown. The mailman had had it. He approached the scene again and told our technicians that he didn’t care…he was going to deliver the mail!
The technicians could tell he was serious. Short of trying to restrain him physically, there was no way they could stop him. The mailman defiantly walked toward the mailbox.
‘Wait, wait” our technician cried out. “Please, at the very least, put on this veil…or let us deliver it for you.”
“There is now way you are gonna deliver this mail for me! But I will wear the veil to get you two off of my back” he said jokingly.
Want to see the beast mode mailman in action? Of course you do! Here is a clip of that live removal and footage of the mailman in “beast mode” delivering the mail afterwards.
