Last Thursday, I received a call from the local news station about a swarm. I had just walked in my front door having come home from work. I was feeling lousy having been sick for the last 3 days and I was planning to go straight to bed. As soon as I opened the door my son says that channel 4 is on the phone and was looking for someone to interview about a swarm on the Chamber of Commerce building down town. She even sent me a picture of it. I told her I was sick but I would call my buddy, Jim to go. I called Jim, but he did not want to do it alone. It was 40' up on the side of the building. It was however right next to a stair landing. I called the news woman back and told her we were loading up the truck and would head down town.
Here is the video clip that viewed that night on the news.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/Bees-swarm-on-downtown-building/-/475880/13068722/-/c521ihz/-/index.htmlI was out at the farm last night and most of the day today, out of cell reach. As we drove into town I got an IM from my brother in the Levittown PA asking me if I got a swarm from a Jacksonville building. He saw it on the news up there but they only used parts of it and they only showed the back of me, no names and he thought it was me. I sent him this clip. Now that was cool. Most of my family is located near him and they showed it there.
After coaching several times, I finally got the news caster, Kent to climb the stairs to look at the bees. He got within 10' and then left. The camera man was right there on the staircase the whole time. If you notice, Kent was on the staircase after the bees were long gone , and after dark. We were done by 6:30. He is scared of bees but he was a good sport about it. :)
Getting that swarm really got me pumped up. By the time we did the interview, I was feeling pretty good.
Jim