A video of a “Bee Man” removing a giant European Hornets’ nest from a car on Sunday has gone viral.
Travis Watson, 28, owner of The Bee Man, LLC, removed the nest from an old El Camino after getting a call the day before from Richard Sabina, 85, in Alliance, Ohio.
“It was about the size of a toddler,” Watson recounted over the phone. Watson estimates that a nest that size probably contained anywhere between 800 to 1,000 hornets.
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Donning protective gear that included a triple-layer ventilated jacket, cowhide leather gloves and double front, Watson got to work. He also wore a chest-mounted camera to capture the footage, which he later posted to his Facebook page. By early Monday, the video had been viewed nearly 100,000 times on Facebook.
Watson said he sprayed the nest with a blend of pesticide powders known as pyrethroids in order to exterminate the hornets. When the spraying was done, he dismantled the nest piece by piece, placing the honeycomb-shaped remnants into a blue plastic grocery bag.
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“We’re gonna need a bigger bag,” Watson can be heard saying on the video.
WATCH: A timelapse of the Bee Man removing a massive European Hornets’ nest from a car in Ohio
European Hornets are not native to North America and have only been in Ohio for the past five years, according to Watson. They can grow to two inches in size and will defend their nests very aggressively.
Unlike honey bees, they do not provide the important task of pollination and will feed their young with other insects such as grasshoppers and cicadas.
“What also makes them unique is that they can sting repeatedly,” he explained. “They hunt at night as well.” So spraying their nest at night doesn’t help because they aren’t in it.
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This wasn’t Watson’s first encounter with European Hornets. Of the 1,100 calls he received in 2017, 20 to 30 were to remove a European Hornets’ nest. But since the video, the number of calls have spiked.
Watson has a few tips for anyone who spots a European Hornets’ nest in their home.
“Don’t try to take care of this yourself, especially if you’re allergic,” he said. “Do not seal them into your wall because that can drive them into your house.”
He also recommended against using a liquid spray if they are in the wall because a lot of them build above the entrance. A liquid spray can also drive at least some of them into your house.
“Listen to hear if there’s a ‘Rice Krispies’ sound in the wall. If it sounds like a crackling, then that means they are eating the drywall,” he explained. Watson said that the crackling sound and any bubbled paint or a wet spot on the wall are all indications that they should be removed immediately.
“Really just get a professional,” said Watson. “These things can be very dangerous.”
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