What is the diffeeence between what Peter recommended over the phone and what the pest control company did other than the service call?


> A local pest control company charged a local woman $300 
to puff a little Sevin into a bee colony.  Ten minutes work and he left.

I wonder about the ten minutes visit.(sake of discussion)

I am very familiar with pest control pricing for our area. Mileage and a base service call are standard and then the rest is based on time involved and chemicals used plus taxes.

I would guess a normal service call would run today over a hundred dollars if the house is treated. Termite control several hundred.

Just saying.

> A few weeks later the honey had absorbed water and fermented, bursting the 
cells and running down the walls. As I recall, she had $1100 to $1200 in 
drywall repairs.

A knowledgeable pest control should have warned the home owner of  possible future problem with simply killing the bees. Maybe he did and the home owner decided on the cheap way out. I have came behind (as Joe has) many cases where pest control has attempted to kill the bees (unsuccessful).


>I think he ripped her off. Don't you?

Thanks for the post Dave. Gives the list a way to understand all sides involved. If you think pest control companies rip people off take a look at auto repair people. 

My problem is pointing to a small number of people from pest control either incompetent or really ripping off people as the standard. In my area the most ripping off comes from the hobby beekeeping area.
A home owner call a few years ago saying a beekeeper wanted several thousand dollars to remove bees from her house. I supplied the name of an honest beekeeper which did the job reasonable.

crooks are around in most industries.

bob

Picked up another swarm from my beekeeping area this morning (makes three in the last 10 days) which tells me the feral bees seem to be doing good. I remove all my hives into a holding area miles from here so these swarms are from bees in trees etc. but no doubt originally came from my hives.
All three swarms looked like my line of bees. 

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