"You want a puppy?"

[Budster]

I get a call tonight... "We have honeybees living in the attic of our garage. We sprayed the entrance with wasp and hornet killer, and can't get rid of them". "Do you want to come get the bees"?

I explained (politely), we have a saying amongst us beekeepers when it comes to insecticides and sprays... "You started the job, you'll need to finish it..."

She said she couldn't understand why "us" beekeepers wouldn't want bees that been sprayed if they are still alive!!!

I explained politely again,

Lets just say for fun that my dog had puppies, and I didn't want the puppies, so, I poisened them... Two of them survived the initial poisoning...

You want a puppy?

Sure, I'd never consider hurting a puppy or even a beehive, but I just get so upset by people that have no idea of the damage they cause...

[Brent Bean]

It’s also amazing how many people think because you’re a beekeeper that your are in the extermination business. I will get calls asking if I can come get bees out of a building. When I say sorry I no longer have the time or energy to get a hive out of a wall. And that I only handle swarms now.
The next question is will you come and destroy them for us? I will politely tell them I am not in the honeybee extermination business. And they need to call a licensed exterminator.
I even was told by a lady that she had already done that but was told that Michigan law prohibits the extermination of honeybees by licensed exterminators.

All I could say was Da!!

[Eaglerock]

I had someone ask me what did it matter, he hadn't killed them all. After explainging, I thought of this, and wished I had said it instead....

You are adopting a new born and you have two choices.

One is from a woman and husband that never did drugs or anything and were very healthy.

The other baby was from a crack cocain Addict mother, somebody who is physiologically or psychologically dependent on a potentially harmful drug and the father was about the same...

Your choice would be?????????????

[Eaglerock]

It’s also amazing how many people think because you’re a beekeeper that your are in the extermination business. I will get calls asking if I can come get bees out of a building. The next question is will you come and destroy them for us? I will politely tell them I am not in the honeybee extermination business. And they need to call a licensed exterminator.
I even was told by a lady that she had already done that but was told that Michigan law prohibits the extermination of honeybees by licensed exterminators.

All I could say was Da!!

You should of said.... And I care becausssssssssssssssse?

Better yet... tell her the cost is 10,000.00 dollars plus costs.... if she said yes... cool beans.

[ScadsOBees]

C'mon Bud, she's doing you a favor, giving you free bees! Bees are going extinct, so they are valuable!!

She'll let you spend 4-5 hours of hot sweaty work crammed into a stuffy attic cutting out the poisoned combs and getting the free bees for a jar of honey!

Uh, yeah...ok then!!

[riverrat]

[quote=ScadsOBees;349497]C'mon Bud, she's doing you a favor, giving you free bees! Bees are going extinct, so they are valuable!!
[quote]

Shouldnt Bud be paying her for the bees.

[doc25]

Maybe he should pay her with honey from the poisoned hive?

[Troy]

I saw an ad on craigslist earlier this summer. Lady said she can't use her bees and would rather they go to someone who can use them and was asking $100.

So I called, only to find out they were in her wall.

She wanted me to come and remove them and pay her $100 for her bees. I laughed.

I told her, that I'd be glad to give her $100, but I want them delivered in a healthy hive for that price.

She didn't call me back.

[BigDaddyDS]

I've never had a problem explaining to people that poisoned bees, which are still moving and alive, probably won't be for too terribly much longer. Then I explain the nature of how poisons work. In addition, I also explain how poisons contaminate our beekeeping equipment and necessitate either cleaning or replacement.

That's why I charge a premium for poisoned bee removal!

I let my customers know that it's one price if they want me to remove the bees (with no repair or carpentry work performed). But if I find evidence that they've been sprayed, all work stops and we'll negotiate a price from that point on. My "contract" states this and I've had no one try to "sneak" a poisoned hive past me yet. And, typically, I increase the amount of the job by $200 bucks or so, if they're poisoned. I figure that that's the amount I'm losing in wax, honey and bees, depending on the time of year, of course.

DS

[livetrappingbymatt]

Have had several calls to do cut-outs after they could'n kill them? A polite no thank you is offered.
Even had an offer of 3 hives if I would repair the building they were in at no charge to me? generous!
bob evans