A neighbor came by to talk to me about the Fifth Wheel I was washing and offer suggestions. He happens to be an exterminator by trade.
I invited him into the back yard with the comment "I want to show you something I DON'T want exterminated." We stood there for a few minutes, about 8 to 10 feet away from my two hives. While we were talking, he mentioned that he wished he knew I had bees. His wife found a feral hive in an upside down flower pot, and was refusing to mow until he did something with them. He didn't know anyone who would take them, so killed the hive. Then he launched into a story about roofers who had called him to exterminate a hive.
We turned away from the hives and started walking out of the yard when he got zapped on the tip of his nose! The bees didn't bother me. No other bees came after him.
I swear they overheard our conversation and felt he needed a little "Bee Justice."
I've learned not to invite neighbors to see me bees. Or at least not to talk about beehive destruction!
