Martin Wickens

When we first arrived here a few months ago it was mentioned to us that there had been a problem with bees. This soon became apparent when

we found numerous dead bees and also a few live ones. A pest control company had quoted several hundred pound to get rid of them so I decided to wait and see if the winter weather would kill them. The job would be expensive because they had made their hive in an inaccesible chimney. To be exact it was the one on the right in this picture.

Then a few weeks ago one or two appeared. Then not too long after on the warmest day of the year

so far I could see about 15 swarming around the chimney and that night some were in the house. So, I started thinking about getting the pest control people in but was somewhat concerned about how to pay for it.

Later that day I spoke with my dad and he was fairly confident we could deal with it ourselves. He had an extension ladder and we borrowed a roof ladder from his friend. We bought some powder that destroys bees and wasp nests and got to work.

I have to admit that while I am not afraid of heights or of falling I am afraid of falling from heights. Going on top of the roof, while interesting, was a little unnerving. However, Dad and my brother got the poison in and the bees were not happy about that. They swarmed around them but thankfully no one was stung.

We left the poison to work for a few days and then yesterday Dad and I got back up there and checked to see if they were all dead. Thankfully they were. I took a bucket up and started trying to remove the hive. After a while we realised it was a huge hive and we would have to leave some in the chimney. The picture shows the hive with some of it removed. The chimney is about 18inches square and we removed honeycomb down to about 5ft and it kept going as far as we could see.

With each handful the comb was oozing honey and it was surprisingly heavy. It was disappointing to have to destroy it, but the risk of the children being stung was not worth it.

I thank the Lord for safety while we were climbing on the roof! I thank the Lord for giving us a place to stay that offers great ministry opportunities as well as a great place to live.