Beekeepers are very often asked to help friends or neighbors that have “bee” problems…. honey bees, carpenter bees, yellow jackets, hornets, bumblebees and the like. But most of us aren’t exterminators. We don’t have the tools, the experience, or the time to help. But “can’t you just get rid of them for me?” lets you know they think you know how to do this… and are ‘glad to help.’

Sometimes they are your bees. A colony swarms and if you are lucky lands in a tree or bush and are easy to retrieve. Sometimes though, they head for that hole in the siding and take up residence in the wall of your neighbor’s house. What then?

What about liability? What happens if you do decide to help, climb a ladder and fall off. What then? Or you tell your neighbor what to do and they fall off the ladder?

Do you lend them your gear? Suit, smoker, hive tool? If you do it, are you serving as an exterminator then? Practicing without a license?

But what about a dangerous situation, like a kid coming home from school and seeing for the first time that huge bald faced hornet nest? Shouldn’t you have been out there long before, just to help?

Listen today! You’ll find that it may not be as easy as just saying, “call an exterminator”.

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We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

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Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, Walking in Paris by Studio Le Bus, original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

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