Friday, February 13, 2004
A sticky situation
Well.
Deep subject.
But I digress.
The Wasp Situation took a rather surreal turn today. The special contractor arrived this morning to assess the situation, and like the cliché there was Good News™ and Bad News™.
The Good News™? They are not wasps like we originally thought. Nope. No Paravespula vulgaris here.
The Bad News™? We have a honey factory inside our wall!
They're bees.
Honey bees.
And they've set up shop in the Facility in the Middle of Nowhere.
The exterminator said that the wall has to be ripped open to remove the hive, and that he would try to keep the honey from getting all over everything.
Yes. Honey.
Buzz buzz.
So before he comes back we have to clear out the area in the corner of the bedroom so he can work.
Looks like we'll be taking out that wall after all …
Cutting into the heart of the problem
We really didn't expect him back quite so soon, but there he was, the exterminator, knocking at our door around 6:00 pm. He said he called The Office that he'd be back tonight, but in their infinite wisdom, The Office decided not to inform us that he would be returning today.
Spring and I
quickly cleared out the corner of the bedroom while the exterminator suited
up for battle with Apis
mellifera. Once the area was clean and our bee warrior was suited
up, I left the area, closing the door behind me.
Some fifteen minutes later, he comes back down the stairs. “Seems we have a problem,” he said, removing his hood. “I cut down the dry wall only to find plywood immediately beneath it. I don't have the tools to cut through that and I won't be able to return later tonight to finish the job.”
“When can you finish?”
“Well, let me get with The Office to see if there's more construction surprises,” he said. “It will most likely be Monday evening.”
“Do you think it's okay to leave the drywall cut?”
“Once I get out of this suit,” he said, “I'll go back up and patch the drywall temporarily. Don't want to leave you folks all worried.”
About half an hour later he had finished temporarily taping the drywall sections back up. Like he said, the bees are apparently between the plywood and the concrete exterior and will most likely not get through inside the Facility in the Middle of Nowhere.
So now we wait …
