Hi:
 
I have been a subscriber to this list for almost a year now and I
really enjoy the technical and practical discussions, but I thought I
might lighten up the discussion with the details of the bee removal I
completed yesterday.
 
Before I give the details, I had better tell you that I live on the
Big Island of Hawaii.
 
I received a telephone call from a property management company
looking for someone to remove "a giant swarm of wild bees" from a
rental house on the north end of the island.  They were paying
"whatever it takes" to remove the bees.  Now I usually don't do
removals, as they can be an all day job and are seldom successful on
the first try, but since I am going on vacation in ten days the money
would be helpful.
 
I followed the directions and ended up at a beautiful multi-million
dollar house sitting right on a beautiful beach.  The place was owned
by the heiress to a large oil company, who ran it as a vacation
rental.  The "giant swarm" turned out to be a small puny bunch of
bees that were trying to build a colony under the wooden shingles on
the second floor.
 
Although I had to use a ladder, the job was done in less than half an
hour.  The view of the beach from the ladder was fabulous.
Fortunately I had my emergency swimsuit in the back of the truck!
 
After collecting the money ($100), I walked out the back gate and
right on to the beach.  The rest of the day was spent enjoying the
sand, sun and bikinis.
 
Yesteday I realized that even with all the stings and the hot, heavy
work, there are some fringe benefits to beekeeping that are unlike
any other business!