Here's a followup to the previous story in the newspaper:
http://www.thederrick.com/stories/07132005-3002.shtmlBee story has caused media frenzy
By JONELLE DAVIS
Photo by Jerry Sowden - Eric McCool spent the better part of last week removing bees and honey from St. Mark United Church of Christ in Clarion County.
The story of a Clarion County church with a massive congregation of bees living in its walls has spread like honey across the globe.
An article and photos published last week in The Derrick about the relocation of a million bees and removal of more than 500 pounds of honey from the rafters of St. Mark United Church of Christ in Monroe, Clarion County, has caused a media frenzy of sorts.
More than 50 newspapers nationwide including The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and the Los Angeles Times carried the story and photos as did daily papers in Seattle, Charlotte, Miami and San Francisco.
Numerous national television outlets including CNN Headline News, MSNBC, Fox and ABC-TV in New York aired the story.
Also, more than 14 radio stations contacted Eric McCool, proprietor of Rocky Grove-based McCool's Wildlife Removal, for an interview about his efforts to remove the bees from the church. Those stations included KQMD in Denver and CJOB in Winnipeg, Ontario.
The story even showed up, of all places, in a newspaper in Pakistan.
A representative of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" called the newspaper Tuesday, requesting information on the story. McCool later confirmed that the representative contacted him and he actually was interviewed by Stewart himself about the church's sticky situation.
The media exposure also spread to numerous Internet sites, including behemoth AOL.
The international attention is changing McCool's life and the future of his business. Not only has he received service calls from Grove City to California about bee removal jobs, but he is also working to secure corporate sponsorships for his business.
"I've probably had about two dozen calls for large bee jobs," said McCool. "Since I've gotten international attention, it looks like I'll have a sponsor soon. So far, I've talked with four companies who are interested in sponsoring me."
Securing a sponsorship from a company would make traveling to job sites more affordable for McCool. The sponsor would either provide him with work supplies or pay him to advertise their products, he said.
Either way, McCool plans to use the media attention to expand his business.
"This has changed everything because now we'll get to travel and do more bee jobs and consulting because people have heard about us," said McCool. "I'm already successful, but this is going to definitely get me somewhere."
McCool is not quite sure why the story caught on like it did. After all, the assignment at St. Mark church was only a medium-size job compared to the 42-foot-tall nest in the side of an office building he recently removed in Fairmont City, Clarion County.
"I'm not sure why the story took off. Maybe it's because it was in a church, but I've been on the front page before. My business is pretty well-known in Pennsylvania, but why this caught on, I'm not sure," said McCool.
As for St. Mark church, McCool donated some of his profits from the removal back into the church fund. "I've also talked with some of the congregation members, and they are all very pleased with my work," said McCool.
Though the past few days have been exciting for McCool, he does feel the media attention is somewhat overwhelming.
"It's a wee-bit stressful because we're getting phone calls all hours of the day, but it's definitely OK," said McCool.