Posted on 08/30/2011 10:37:24 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
LYNDEN, Wash. (AP) - A Washington state fire chief says a man dumped gasoline on a beehive in a tree in retaliation for a bee sting, then ignited the hive, causing an explosion heard throughout his suburban neighborhood just a few miles south of the Canadian border.
Lynden chief Gary Baar tells the Bellingham Herald that the Sunday night fire caused a large "whoosh," singed the tree and killed the bees but no people were hurt.
Baar says the man's friend had been stung earlier in the day.
The fire chief says, "The correct way to do that is to call a beekeeper."
Firefighters explained that to the homeowner, and the newspaper says it doesn't appear that that the man will be cited.
Next they’re going to tell me I cant beat a rat to death with a stick when I catch them. . .
Imagine his response to getting mugged.
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Sure his name isn’t Paul Kersey?
They ran him out of the cities, guess old habits just don’t go away.
I did that one time with some fire ants in our yard but I’d never do that to the bees. We NEED them.....:)
I painted houses one summer as a teen in North Georgia. In doing that you would encounter your share of hornets nests under the eaves.
The “master” painter I worked under was drunk half the time and recuperating the other half of the time, so it was my job to get rid of the nests before we painted.
If you just knock down the nest you just have a lot of pi$$ed off wasps flying around. Not good, especially if you up a ladder.
We would use a can of underarm deodorant and a lighter. If you did it right, you would spray the nest from about 2 feet away, then a half second later light the stream. WHOOSH, and then hold the flame for about 2 seconds. A lot of excitement but no real damage to the house. WTF you were painting it anyway.
Nine out of ten times you would singe the wings off all the wasps, who would fall to the ground. One time out of ten, through, the lighter would fail, or something else would go wrong. Then you were on your own.
I still cant believe I would do that on a 30 foot extension ladder sometimes. I won’t even get on such a ladder today.
I wanna know what the exterminators are using to keep wasps from building nests around the house...and does it really work?
agreed - no harm, no foul...
I will admit, I have had similar fun before with fire ant mounds...douse ‘em, let it sit a few, then throw a match. Nifty “woosh”, little fire ants that are LITERALLY “fire” ants running around, and the mound location is no longer active - even a year later!
Mom bought me a paper wasp decoy this year and the thing worked pretty well. I took it down because I like wasps in the garden to take care of tomato hornworms and other pests.
No, that isn’t what the chief meant and certainly isn’t the case with regard to bees. If a person doesn’t know what they are doing around bees, the result can be painful.
Beekeepers, and I am one, will gladly come and remove honey bees because it gives a way to increase or replenish their stocks. It also means the honey bees can be “saved” from being destroyed. Domestic and feral bees stocks are declining for a number of reasons, so the chief’s direction is also good stewardship of a necessary, valuable and productive insect.
A flaming rag on a long stick held directly below the hornet hive also does a good job. They burn up as they pass through the fire.
My dad used to go collect swarms all the time. The payment was the bees. He never charged for getting them.
And there is nothing like standing at the base of a tree holding up am empty hive while your dad is up in the tree sweeping the bees off. And it you do not hold it right, the entire swarm falls on your head. And that crap about swarming bees not stinging is BS.
Bees are wonderful creatures that pollinate all our fruits and vegetables.
I plant bee-attractant flowers come Spring so they’ll swarm and pollinate my garden, gives me tons of great tomatoes, peas, beans, broccoli, and more.
Ya’ll should learn of the amazing ways God makes this world work, not the least of which are bees.
If there were no bees, this planet would quickly starve to death.
Plus, they give great honey!
Ed
This is news?
Of course! Weird news, but it is news. When you see these kinds of stories it usually means it is a slow news cycle and need so filler for their job security.
It was an explosive woosh!
Warm honey ... mmmmm
I am guessing hornets, and they can both bite and sting you and they are very common here in western Washington.
I had a Redbone Coon Hound and a family of Raccoons lived in the trees around my house. Every night when the Raccoons came out to forage the hound would go nuts. The Raccoons were NOT appreciative. Near, but not over, the kennel was a Cedar and about 25 feet up in the tree was a big hornets nest. One night the dog quit barking a lot earlier than normal at the raccoons, and the next day when I checked on him, I saw why. The raccoons had thrown the hornets nest at him!
“Well, what was it? An explosion or a whoosh. The two are hardly the same.”
Of course it could have been a “whump”, which is a totally different situation altogether. ;)
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