One day in 2018, David Glover received a call to relocate some bees that had made a nest inside the homeowner’s brick building. Known as the Bartlett Bee Whisperer, he’s the guy people call when they need a beekeeper to solve their bee problem.
Glover went to the building in Germantown, Tennessee, to examine the bee problem, but he didn’t know that the hive was much bigger than he initially imagined.
“I go and get bees from places where people don’t want them and relocate them. We had to remove the bricks to get them out of the house,” Glover told WREG.
A Glint Of Honeycomb
Glover approached the brick wall where the homeowners suspected the hive was located. Before removing any bricks, he knew he had to ensure he was right.
After taking an infrared image of the wall, it was undisputable that there were bees in it. Among the cool brick was a hotspot—it had to be the nest. The brood combs of the hive emit so much heat. The rest of the hive wouldn’t be detectable and thus would be much bigger than he thought.
After removing a single brick, he peeked inside the wall and saw what he was looking for – there was a glint of honeycomb. Knowing that the hive was inside the wall, Glover had to figure out how big it was.
Exposing The Nest
“Will the mortar chip out, or will the bricks crumble? Will the combs be usable once the bricks are out of the way?” Glover said, “As much as I dreaded removing the bricks, the final view of the hive was awesome!”
Glover slowly extracted brick after brick from the wall to expose more of the nest hidden inside. He admitted that he cringed with every brick removed, as it was destroying the integrity of the wall.
“No one is aware of the size of their honey bee hive. They are all surprised because they expect something the size of a wasp or hornet’s nest,” Glover explained.
Taking Photos
After removing dozens of bricks, he was astounded at how big the honeycomb was. The more bricks he took out, the further the hive spread. He said the bees had probably moved in and started building it two years before its discovery.
The beekeeper then took photos of the hive and posted them on Facebook, not knowing the impact it would have. After that, he returned to work, extracting the honeycomb from the wall. If any bees decide to stay behind in the wall, Glover will take a vacuum and safely suck them up.
Once that’s done, he’ll relocate the bees. Glover normally looks for other beekeepers who have suffered a decline in their bee population and migrates the bees to a new hive in their yard.
Going Viral
Glover thought he wouldn’t hear much about the job again, but just on Saturday after the job, his kids came to him with news. They asked him if he knew that he had gone viral.
The beekeeper’s original post had become a sensation, being shared over 100,000 times. Internet users all over the world were contacting Glover, telling him that they were fans of his.
Glover’s work to save the bees doesn’t end when he finished his shift. He also teaches people about the importance of bees. He said, “One-third of what we eat comes because of pollination. Eighty-five percent of the plants in the world exist because of pollination: the fruits, vegetables, and things we eat because of pollination.”
Source:
Oh Beehive! – Bee Whisperer Removes Enormous Hive From Tennessee Home
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