Watch two guys remove a honeybee swarm with their bare hands

Town and Country Pest Control is a father-son business in upstate New York that takes a holy-shit approach to its work. For instance, in the video below, they remove a bee colony with their bare hands and a box:

But as any bee-savvy keeper will tell you, this isn’t as crazy as it looks. Swarms of honey bees like this one are likely searching for a new place to establish a hive. Since they’ve broken off from an established colony and aren’t sure when they’ll have a new home, they’ll have fattened up on a bunch of honey, which makes stinging difficult. In general, though, honey bees just aren’t that dangerous [PDF], beekeepers associations say:

A honey bee sting is rare indeed — even when bees are swarming. If a honey bee stings, it is usually to defend the hive that contains its young and its food supply — the honey bee dies as its stinger is ripped from its body.

There’s even a long tradition of “bee bearding” — attracting bees to you and letting them hang out on your body in the shape of a beard.

Photo by Mel Trent.

It’s possible to take this idea to the extreme, but we’re impressed enough by the beards!