Bee Expert Removes Swarm Without Protective Clothing
Posted by:
Julia Meade Tulli
Occurred on April 12, 2019 / Mechanicsville, Virginia, USA
Info from Licensor: "A few weeks ago, my child was home sick from school so my husband went outside to do a little yard work and came in very concerned because of a large swarm of bees in one of our bushes. We had just played in the backyard last weekend so we were sure the bees had come pretty quickly. Not knowing much about bees ourselves, my husband called an exterminator and I sent a picture of the bees to a friend of ours that has had hives in the past. Long story short, our friend sent us to the Richmond Beekeepers Association. I sent them a message but knew that it may be a while before I heard back. We wanted to ensure the safety of our children as soon as possible. Dr. Surles answered and seemed excited asked where we lived. He said he would be over in a couple of hours. I even asked if he needed any money for him to take the bees and was quickly shut down. A few hours later, a sweet gentleman and his comrade drove up. Little did we know that Dr. Surles had the Virginia Tech professor of bees with him, Dr. Rick Fell. You will see in the video that Dr. Fell shook the bees out of our bush and into the hive with no protection at all! Despite the rain, they wanted to leave the hive overnight so that the bees that had not yet gone in would soon find their home. Saturday evening, Dr. Surles and Dr. Bell returned. They grabbed a wrap for the hive, used a tool to put a rag in the bottom and in 5 minutes, off they went.
In that brief time with both of them, they were so kind and helpful to teach me about bees. I knew that bees were vital to our food sources, but did not know much about them in general. I feel that a scary situation turned into a really awesome one in which I am more knowledgeable now."
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