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Offline Kris^

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News from my old hometown paper
« on: July 07, 2005, 07:56:37 am »
http://www.thederrick.com/stories/07072005-4002.shtml


Bee infestation bedevils church
By JONELLE DAVIS


Photos by Jerry Sowden - Eric McCool moves a small section of a hive out from the St. Mark church rafters and into a rubber trash can. McCool collected about 55 pounds of honey on Tuesday, and he expects to gather at least 500 more pounds that will be extracted from the building.


KNOX - Imagine singing praises to God with a million bees buzzing behind your bonnet.

That's exactly what the congregation of St. Mark United Church of Christ in Monroe, Clarion County, has been doing for the past seven years.

Honeybees have infested the walls of the sanctuary, and the gooey moisture from honey has been seeping from the walls.

Lee Stroup, the church's maintenance worker, said the congregation has known about the problem for years but has not been able to stop the bees from spreading.

"We've tried to get rid of them. We even had (an exterminator) come in, but it didn't work," said Stroup. "I have continuously resealed and repainted the walls trying to stop the moisture from the honey from seeping in."

The church has now hired McCool's Wildlife Removal of Rocky Grove to remove the honey, relocate the bees to a local beekeeper and seal the damaged walls to permanently resolve the problem.

McCool's is the only pest control business in the area that will remove and relocate bees.

Eric McCool, owner of McCool's, is working on the project with his son, Nicholas. They are spending three to four days this week on the church assignment because of the difficult-to-reach location of the bees. Most bee-removal jobs are done in a day, he said.

"The building itself complicates the removal," McCool said. "We have to use a 100-foot boom to do the job. This is dangerous because of the height and the electrical wiring. Then we also have to worry about the liability of the stained-glass windows," said McCool.

Using the boom has already caused McCool to be stung between 100 and 130 times.

"I was attacked because I couldn't move the boom away from the church fast enough because of the dangers," he said. "I ended up going to the emergency room. Even though I'm not allergic, any time you have a large amount of venom, you have a toxic reaction."

Despite being stung, McCool collected about 55 pounds of honey on Tuesday, which will be melted down for beeswax. That's only a small amount compared to the additional 500 pounds he expects to extract from the rest of the building.

When McCool relocates the bees, he will suit up in a bee suit to avoid being attacked.

"When you evict bees out of their homes, they're not too happy. We have to suit up for that part and use smokers. We also carry bee spray in case they attack," McCool said.

Once the bees are removed, McCool will finish fixing the moisture problem inside the church by drilling holes in the walls and removing the rest of the honey.

The entire project will cost around $2,600, but it won't interrupt regular worship services. Although some bees sneak into the sanctuary, no parishioners have been stung, Stroup said.

"We've never had to hold church elsewhere. We'll have church this Sunday," said Stroup. "We just wanted them gone so no one gets stung."

McCool said bee infestations aren't uncommon in the area.

"It's becoming more of a problem in buildings and in homes. Bees can get into small areas and people can have nests growing for 30 years and not know it," said McCool. "This is a medium-sized job. I've seen larger."

He estimated that about 1 million bees will have been removed from the church building by the time the job is completed.

Offline Miss Chick-a-BEE

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News from my old hometown paper
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2005, 02:02:06 pm »
Sometimes I really wonder if these journalists do ANY research at all. Like this comment:
Quote
Despite being stung, McCool collected about 55 pounds of honey on Tuesday, which will be melted down for beeswax.


Getting beeswax from honey?

Or these other comments:
Quote
That's only a small amount compared to the additional 500 pounds he expects to extract from the rest of the building.

Quote
He estimated that about 1 million bees will have been removed from the church building by the time the job is completed.


I have never heard of a hive having 500 lbs of honey in it, nor have I ever heard of a hive having 1 million bees. That would be like having 20 hives all together. Heck, if it was the size of 20 hives, with 500 lbs of honey..... give it a till winter and they'll die of starvation. :) If it was at all possible for a hive to get to the size of 1 million bees, it should have about  1,000 - 2,000 lbs of honey in it right now (that's 50 - 100 lbs per 50,000 bees). Do you have any idea how big that "hive" would have to be? LOL It would have to take over the whole church!

I'd like to say "cool story", but really it was poor jouralism. Thanks anyway for the laugh. :)

Beth

Offline Jerrymac

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« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2005, 09:53:05 pm »
Yeah I wondered about that, and the fact that he was suited up but got so many stings. Out of the Seven or eight colonies I've evicted, I only got stung once through the glove while suited up, and once when I wasn't suited up. And I got stung twice while not suited up capturing a swarm.
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Offline Kris^

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« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2005, 08:01:53 am »
I thought you'd all get a chuckle out of that.  I suspect the reporter confused honey with comb, didn't know and didn't care.  There are several apiaries in the area, and I wondered why a beekeeper wasn't willing to get the hive out -- until I read about the 100 foot boom.  Not for me, either!

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Offline JP

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« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2005, 10:35:19 am »
saw the post by kris yesterday & was very leary of the reporting. They mentioned something about the church on my local news station this morning, here in New Orleans.
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Offline GeeBeeNC

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« Reply #5 on: July 09, 2005, 12:46:13 pm »
The story was also featured on NPR's Morning Edition on Friday
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Offline latebee

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« Reply #6 on: July 10, 2005, 07:15:31 pm »
I also seriously doubt that 500 lbs. of honey from one colony is realistic. Like Beth said the journalist covering the story sensationalized it. On the other hand,even if you are suited up,especially if you are wringing wet from either rain or sweat the litlle girls will be able to sting through the coveralls. I got zapped 8 times through the suit with a shirt and T shirt on under it. The removal was from the soffit overhang about 26 feet high up in a charming old victorian style home. It was 96 degrees and in full sun my suit was like a second skin and the bees stung my upper back. Had to quit and come back next day.Beekeepers are a bizarre bunch arent they? :lol:
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Offline Michael Bush

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« Reply #7 on: July 11, 2005, 12:53:02 pm »
I seem to remember when I was a kid someone getting about that much honey from a bee tree once.  Of course it was quite notable, because you just never get that much.  :)
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Offline Kris^

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« Reply #8 on: July 13, 2005, 08:01:26 am »
Here's a followup to the previous story in the newspaper:



http://www.thederrick.com/stories/07132005-3002.shtml

Bee 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.

Offline asleitch

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« Reply #9 on: July 13, 2005, 09:41:01 am »
>That's only a small amount compared to the additional 500 pounds he expects to extract from the rest of the building.

I read that as though their were plenty of other colonies distributed around the inside of the church building, rather than from a "single" colony.

Adam

 

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