Pest Control .co.uk

When a swarm of bees appears in your backyard, your first response will probably be to call in pest control.  It was for a man in Battersea, London, for whom a nest of bees had settled in his garden.  He called in pest control, but they couldn’t do anything.  Bees are protected at the moment because they are in short supply, so they are not allowed to be killed.  The same is not true of wasps, however, which most certainly can be eradicated.  In fact, if wasp nests are not removed, there will only be more the next year so it is certainly important to call pest control specialists in.

In the case of bees, however, professionally bee keepers are needed.  In most cases this is treated as a cold science, with procedures and practices which are kept to the letter.  There is more of an art and mystery to it in some cases though.  A beekeeper in Battersea, London happened to hear of this man’s plight who was trapped in his home because of a bees nest in his garden.  The beekeeper, called James Hamill, is a Native American from California, and learned from his grandfather a “bee whispering” technique used to calm down bees.

The swarm of 60,000 bees that bee whisperer Hamill had to contend with

This of course should not be attempted by amateurs, and even Hamill wore his protective suit.  Once in the suit and at the location, he went up to the nest, which was in the ground, putting his face right up close to it.  And then he spoke a secret language, calming the bees so that they would be more manageable.

Who knows what the people watching thought of this.  Bee whispering is not a widely known technique of bee control and would likely be scoffed at by many.  The truth is however, that it worked.  Once the beekeeper had finished, he coaxed out the bees with his hands while having a blanket draped over his head, and led them to a wooden box.  It probably looked quite a lot like a magic trick.

How bee whispering works is unknown, not many people would think that bees would respond to a voice.  Fortunately bees are far less aggressive than wasps as a rule.  Wasps attack when irritated, whereas bees will only attack when they feel their nest is threatened.  The reason for this is that bees die when they sting, whereas wasps can sting multiple times.  Trying to remove bees from their home is when they are most dangerous then.

It can be hard to tell the difference between bees and wasps sometimes though.  Bumblebees are very recognizable, but honey bees look a lot like wasps.  Wasps are yellow and black, whereas honey bees are orange and brown, but the pattern is the same and it can be a tough distinction to make when they are buzzing around you.  If you have a nest nearby, the best way to tell them apart is by the swarm.  Wasps don’t swarm but bees do, so if they are swarming, then they’ll be bees.  If that is the case, then you are going to need a local beekeeper to take care of it.  If it is wasps on the other hand, then do not hesitate to call in pest control experts.

Tags: bee whispering, bees, london, pest control, pest control news, wasps

Written by Paul Simmons

Paul has been working in the pest control field for 6 years and enjoys writing about contemporary events relating to pest problems and solutions in the UK