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Letter to the editor

Bug Man Junior between a hive and a hard place

By CRISTINA SILVA, Times Staff Writer
Published September 26, 2007

Jeff McChesney is a pest exterminator with a thing for bees.

He tries to relocate the bees people hire him to kill, and he frequently talks to other bee lovers on bee fan Web sites.

Unprovoked, he often rattles off bee trivia.

"Did you know that honey is the only food source that doesn't spoil?" And "honey is the only food source in the world that people can live off of for the rest of their lives and stay healthy."

So you might imagine how conflicted he felt when he got a call from a customer asking him to take out more than 50,000 bees that had built a 4-foot-tall hive above a vacant lot in Bartlett Park.

Think of a librarian asked to throw away a worn book, a chef told his prized dish has burned in the oven, a star player who has to sit out the big game. Rationally, you know what has to be done. But it is still disappointing.

Now, McChesney isn't crazy. He knows some bees scare people, or worse, and he respects that. His family's Gulfport-based company is called Bug Man Termite and Pest Control Service.

His dad is the original Bug Man. McChesney calls himself Bug Man Junior. Bee extermination makes up 25 percent of the company's business.

But a while back, McChesney really started tolike bees.

They were just so interesting. The way they help pollinate crops. The way they use honeycomb to create nifty little bee condos. The stealthy way they can create massive hives in the middle of an urban neighborhood.

The Bartlett Park hive sat 30 feet above ground in an oak tree on Fifth Street S, said Todd Yost, assistant director for codes compliance for the city. The hive was so large, some residents got a little worried. One called the city to complain.

Bee hives are prohibited under the city's general nuisance ordinance in one of those codes that is rarely enforced but sometimes useful.

McChesney got the call last week. He knew he would need to use a lift to get up to the hive, so he put off the task for a few days.

Meanwhile, he studied the hive.

"It's probably been here for two years," he said. "It's gone unnoticed for a long time."

He admired the hive. "It's actually one of the largest free-standing hives I've ever seen," he said.

He planned how he would exterminate the bees with a special type of poisonous foam and when, Tuesday night (after Neighborhood Times deadlines). He would wear protective gear in case the bees fought back. And relocating bees from a hive that massive would pose a substantial risk.

Finally, there was nothing left to do but kill the bees.

Cristina Silva can be reached at csilva@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8846.

[Last modified September 25, 2007, 21:40:56]