Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Be(e) Gone…Sort of
As I may have mentioned, we have a bee infestation in the attic of our office. This building is a small L-shaped, cement structure housing, our office, a second (unused) office, 2 wood storage rooms and our laundry room. Each room has its own wooden door secured with a heavy padlock. The office is the only opening with a screen door as well as the heavy wooden one. Our office is at one end of the L and has a double screened and barred window. The roof is corrugated metal and I suspect the attic space is quite roomy but that the office side of the attic is separated from the storage and laundry side by a floor to roof cement wall. The bees have nested in the corner of the roof above the outer corner of the L.
It was six weeks ago that I brought the problem to the attention of the garage, which houses the general maintenance department as well. Yesterday I had to go to the garage to speak to Tore and when I did not find him I thought I would repeat my request to have the bees taken care of. Phillipo, the boss grabbed a couple of guys and we came to the office to investigate the issue and find a solution. We all looked around the nest door and went into the office where, when we were silent we could hear the non-descript sounds the bees made above the ceiling. With a bit of discussion we decided that drilling a hole in the ceiling and spraying DOOM in via a small hose or tube would be the best method. They guys retreated to the garage and I went back to work expecting to be expelled shortly from the office. My wait was long.
After lunch it was Nik’s turn in the office and she worked the afternoon also expecting to be ousted at any moment. Abby and I had time to go to town on the bike, get foot pegs welded to some brackets so Abby can rest her feet when she rides on the back, and played a heated game of football in the front yard. It wasn’t until close to quitting time when Phillipo himself and a second man (probably not a volunteer but rather one who pulled the short straw) appeared at the corner of the office. They were geared up with DOOM, a couple of small tubes and an Awl. I joined them in the office and Nik and Abby retreated to the safety of the house behind the screen door.
The plan came together after short tests of the different tubes. Phillipo had a tube similar to one from a can of WD-40 which, when employed in the test, blew off with a short blast. The other tube looked like a small piece of heat-shrink tubing that was shrunk at one end to fit the hole and its ¼ inch diameter at the other, to fit onto the tiny spray nozzle of the can. The first test of this tube was a bit of a disaster as the tube was not secured to the can and blew off when a shot of DOOM almost hitting Phillipo dead center in the face. The second test, using one hand to hold the tube to the can, showed promise and a hole was punched in the ceiling.
The small end of the tube was inserted in the hole and a short testing burst was pushed into the attic. The success of the short blast was readily apparent, as the activity of the bees was apparent by the amplification of their non-descript sound coupled with the start of audible buzzing from the attic. We three smiled and Phillipo sent a long blast upward. This second shot brought more noise inside and we also noticed that the bees were beginning to swarm outside the nest’s entry point. After a couple more blasts, for some reason, Phillipo withdrew the tube and punched a new hole in the ceiling. He quickly inserted the tube in the new hole and blasted away with the DOOM. This increased all of the signs that we had the right spot but also brought bees in through the first hole.
Phillipo’s colleague was now called to duty spraying with his can of lesser bug killer inside the office. With bees entering one after the other with rapid succession and dangerous chemicals being employed to keep them at bay, I made my retreat to the house as well. Joining Emma Stella and Nicole behind the screen door we all watched the action outside. There was little sound from the office but we knew the guys were continuing the spraying by the spread of the swarm of bees that searched for the culprit that was forcing them from their home. We knew this to be true when an unsuspecting dog began by and quickly accelerated to a blinding speed while nipping at its back as the bees attacked.
With a total stillness from inside the office we became a little nervous as to the safety of the screened in refuge that Phillipo and his colleague were relying on. The stillness was soon broken as the two men burst from the door and began to run away. Phillipo however, turned to see that the man following him had left the door open. He shouted, apparently to him to close the door as the man stopped and turned back and pulled the door closed and locked it – sadly it takes some time to squeakily slide the lock into place – as the bees closed in. The man began to dance and spray his lesser DOOM at and above his head. The door locked, he ran spraying at his head as he sprinted away.
By the time we looked out the back door to find the guys, Emma Stella was calling form the kitchen that they were already at the garage gates 50 meters away. They were in a hurry to escape. From the kitchen window it became obvious that Phillipo’s companion had been stung on his head. This was upsetting but we hoped that his efforts had been successful.
After dinner we found that the attempt at extermination had failed. The bees were still swarming around the entry point as they usually did and the buzzing in the office continued. I went in and plugged two of the holes in the ceiling and stuck a modified straw into the third. I blasted a large portion of a can of DOOM into the straw as Nik watched from the house. As the bees began to extend their swarm toward the office door I retreated to the house to once again see if any good came from my efforts. Again the swarm grew and receded and this morning there were 30 or more dead bees inside the office and the buzzing in the ceiling was unnerving. But I will give them another blast or two this evening when they are mostly at home and hope for the best.
It was six weeks ago that I brought the problem to the attention of the garage, which houses the general maintenance department as well. Yesterday I had to go to the garage to speak to Tore and when I did not find him I thought I would repeat my request to have the bees taken care of. Phillipo, the boss grabbed a couple of guys and we came to the office to investigate the issue and find a solution. We all looked around the nest door and went into the office where, when we were silent we could hear the non-descript sounds the bees made above the ceiling. With a bit of discussion we decided that drilling a hole in the ceiling and spraying DOOM in via a small hose or tube would be the best method. They guys retreated to the garage and I went back to work expecting to be expelled shortly from the office. My wait was long.
After lunch it was Nik’s turn in the office and she worked the afternoon also expecting to be ousted at any moment. Abby and I had time to go to town on the bike, get foot pegs welded to some brackets so Abby can rest her feet when she rides on the back, and played a heated game of football in the front yard. It wasn’t until close to quitting time when Phillipo himself and a second man (probably not a volunteer but rather one who pulled the short straw) appeared at the corner of the office. They were geared up with DOOM, a couple of small tubes and an Awl. I joined them in the office and Nik and Abby retreated to the safety of the house behind the screen door.
The plan came together after short tests of the different tubes. Phillipo had a tube similar to one from a can of WD-40 which, when employed in the test, blew off with a short blast. The other tube looked like a small piece of heat-shrink tubing that was shrunk at one end to fit the hole and its ¼ inch diameter at the other, to fit onto the tiny spray nozzle of the can. The first test of this tube was a bit of a disaster as the tube was not secured to the can and blew off when a shot of DOOM almost hitting Phillipo dead center in the face. The second test, using one hand to hold the tube to the can, showed promise and a hole was punched in the ceiling.
The small end of the tube was inserted in the hole and a short testing burst was pushed into the attic. The success of the short blast was readily apparent, as the activity of the bees was apparent by the amplification of their non-descript sound coupled with the start of audible buzzing from the attic. We three smiled and Phillipo sent a long blast upward. This second shot brought more noise inside and we also noticed that the bees were beginning to swarm outside the nest’s entry point. After a couple more blasts, for some reason, Phillipo withdrew the tube and punched a new hole in the ceiling. He quickly inserted the tube in the new hole and blasted away with the DOOM. This increased all of the signs that we had the right spot but also brought bees in through the first hole.
Phillipo’s colleague was now called to duty spraying with his can of lesser bug killer inside the office. With bees entering one after the other with rapid succession and dangerous chemicals being employed to keep them at bay, I made my retreat to the house as well. Joining Emma Stella and Nicole behind the screen door we all watched the action outside. There was little sound from the office but we knew the guys were continuing the spraying by the spread of the swarm of bees that searched for the culprit that was forcing them from their home. We knew this to be true when an unsuspecting dog began by and quickly accelerated to a blinding speed while nipping at its back as the bees attacked.
With a total stillness from inside the office we became a little nervous as to the safety of the screened in refuge that Phillipo and his colleague were relying on. The stillness was soon broken as the two men burst from the door and began to run away. Phillipo however, turned to see that the man following him had left the door open. He shouted, apparently to him to close the door as the man stopped and turned back and pulled the door closed and locked it – sadly it takes some time to squeakily slide the lock into place – as the bees closed in. The man began to dance and spray his lesser DOOM at and above his head. The door locked, he ran spraying at his head as he sprinted away.
By the time we looked out the back door to find the guys, Emma Stella was calling form the kitchen that they were already at the garage gates 50 meters away. They were in a hurry to escape. From the kitchen window it became obvious that Phillipo’s companion had been stung on his head. This was upsetting but we hoped that his efforts had been successful.
After dinner we found that the attempt at extermination had failed. The bees were still swarming around the entry point as they usually did and the buzzing in the office continued. I went in and plugged two of the holes in the ceiling and stuck a modified straw into the third. I blasted a large portion of a can of DOOM into the straw as Nik watched from the house. As the bees began to extend their swarm toward the office door I retreated to the house to once again see if any good came from my efforts. Again the swarm grew and receded and this morning there were 30 or more dead bees inside the office and the buzzing in the ceiling was unnerving. But I will give them another blast or two this evening when they are mostly at home and hope for the best.
