hey Linda, That was REALLY COOOOL!!
It seemed to me that you did all this like most anybody would have done!..You did a GREAT job! I would have said"You did it like a pro!"But I reconsidered after alittle thought. I think theres 2 classes of Pros..The first Pros are the catchers that get on site,...get the bees,...quickly..Then go.
The second type of pro(PRO!!!) is the person who gets to the site,....Realizes they've forgotten some stuff...Hem Haws around with people who are hanging out watching what your fixing to do..Carrys on conversations about bees with the audience...Borrows a ladder, broom, shovel, and whatever they've forgotten at home from anybody standing by to make THEM(audience members) feel like part of the catch. And, if theres a person wanting to record this, give them the time to get their camcorder(Especially if its the homeowner with family)..The last part needed from a catcher is to provide entertainment! People want to see someone get stung!..They also want to see people like me(Not Fat, but "Man Size"
to run around in circles, swatting the air and cussing!!This kind of PRO is my style. If you do it like this style other people will call you back because of by word of mouth...And ALL people like to go to the main attraction!
Truthfully though, I keep my beesuits and veils in the back seat with other needed stuff. I've only caught about2 or 4 swarms last year ...two were in my yard and one was just up the road, then one more just over the Red River....Every one of them made me feel kinda like a....hero!...My biggest mistake was hiving a swarm in too much of a hurry..The woman(a nabor) called us...we showed up. got suited up, lit the smoker, And "Posed" a little...We started to take the bees offa the tree and the woman ran in to get her camcorder....By the time she came back out,(10 minutes) we were done!(This was also a complete surprise to me and Paul as to how fast this catch went)...Needless to say, there was not much for her to film as the bees were all put away. But it wasnt so bad really...about 2 weeks later the husband of this woman called us back and asked if we were interested in catching another hive!
And we were!
I think the way it works is, once people know you have bees, you'll be getting removal calls.
And it IS exciting!!
your friend,
john