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That time I had to run a drop through a crawlspace full of bees

I was on a job in an old neighborhood in Austin, under a house that hadn't been serviced in maybe 20 years. I pulled back the vapor barrier and a whole nest of ground bees came boiling out right at my face. I backed out fast, but the homeowner needed that line run that day. I ended up taping my pants and sleeves shut, putting a mesh bug net over my hard hat, and spraying a path with some wasp killer I had in the truck. Got the line in, but I was sweating buckets the whole time. What's the worst pest situation you've had to deal with on an install?
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3 Comments
patel.morgan
patel.morgan17d agoMost Upvoted
Man, I have to disagree on that one. You should never spray poison in a crawlspace you're about to work in, especially with a vapor barrier. That stuff gets in the air and you're breathing it in while you're stuck under there sweating. For bees, smoke is the way to go if you have to get past them. A cheap bee smoker calms them right down so you can do the job without getting stung or poisoning yourself. Your health isn't worth the line getting in that same day.
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david134
david13417d ago
Used to think spraying was fine until I got a headache that lasted two days after doing exactly what you described, @patel.morgan. The vapor barrier really does trap the fumes and mixing that with the heat down there is brutal. Now I keep a smoker on the truck for bees, works way better and I don't feel sick after.
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brian_hart
brian_hart17d ago
How many times did you get stung doing that?
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