Just curious about your approaches to folks that are considering exterminating their bee problem. I had a call through our local bee club. The call involved a lady that had what she described as a swarm that had taken residence in a pillar on her house. I returned the call and told her I would be happy to come take a look and give her an estimate. She said, that if it cost she would just have Orkin come and exterminate.
Considering that I have contractor that works with me, and we dismantle, remove the bees, and reassemble everything it is not a cheap fix. Of course, my objective is to save the bees, but when people consider that they will be spending a few hundered bucks for what they consider a "favor to the environment" they seem to quickly decide to kill the bees. Now that being said, I would say that most folks still want it done, because they understand the ramifications if it is not done right.
I just wonder, how much do you all say? I don't like to push too hard, because I ain't a salesman. I also hate to hear that "Orkin is coming anyway", for obvious reasons. I just kind of let this specific lady go her own way. Any thoughts on this? Even good suggestions for convincing people to let them be. Just hate to hang up knowing that another hive is going down the tubes.
I usually tell them that if the comb isn't physically removed they'll have a mess of decaying brood (that has a nasty habit of liquefying), and let them decide if they want to put up with the stench, and the ants .
A few questions to ask.
Is Orkin free?
Do they clean up the possible 200 lbs. of honey that will be flowing down their walls?
Do they remove the rotting bees and larva?
Do they come back and kill the ants, roaches, mice, and other critters that come after the honey?
Do they remove the snakes, skunks, and other critters that come to catch the mice that are attracted by the honey?
Do they want it all done now, or do they want Orkin returning day after day to complete their continued killing, and are all their trips free?
Great questions, both of you. That helps me. I just asked a guy in my office about Orkin. He worked for them years ago. He said that when he worked for them, they didn't even deal with bees, for those reasons. Maybe time has changed things...?