Uninvited House Guests

by Jill from BakingBread-101.com
(Las Vegas, NV)

I was standing out on the patio of my old house when a "fly" came buzzing past my face. I swatted it away. All of a sudden I noticed I had quite a number of "flies."

Holy Fudgesticks! I covered my face with my hands and walked backwards into my family room. Then I slammed the sliding glass door shut. Shaking, I looked around the room as the buzz got louder and louder. I peeked outside to see a storm cloud descending next to my patio onto the vent to the fireplace. I ran to get a plastic garbage bag and duct tape--the stuff that fixes everything! I covered the inside grates of the fireplace.

I was being swarmed by bees. Not honey bees, mind you. Africanized Bees. 15,000 or so of them. I called the fire department. They said unless someone was stung, nothing could be done--call Rodney, the BeeKeeper.

I called Rodney. He told me there was nothing that could be done until the morning. The bees had to go to sleep for the night and at the barest breaking of dawn, he would be over. Maybe the bees would sleep, but I sure didn't!

He came over and put on the full regalia, "to be on the safe side," he said, but I think it was to make me feel better! Then he opened up a large garbage bag and sprayed the bees with soapy water. After that, he put a pheromone tack on the wall to keep them from coming back.

Bees are wonderful when they are honey bees--not when they are the Africanized. I'd load up a pic, but I can't find it! I was just lucky they hadn't nested in the wall and nobody got stung. That's one experience with bees I'd rather not have again! I still eat honey though!

Jill

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Thanks for the story, Jill. That was quick thinking on your part to cover the fireplace vents. Glad no one was hurt!

Yep, Africanized bees are a whole 'nuther critter from the bees most of us are familiar with. I haven't had any experience with them myself, and don't particularly care to!