Move a longtime city resident out to the country, and every raccoon or possum might seem like a wildlife infestation.
But in the case of William Butt of Huddleston, his chimney seems to be a magnet for infestations — most lately an impressive colony of honeybees, that he estimates at more than 1,000.
“I tried spraying bug spray and stuff up in there, and all that did was really tick them off,” Butt said.
Lately, he’s been in contact with a beekeeper, who has volunteered to try to remove the bees for free, and relocate them.
“I’m anxious to see how it works,” he said, noting that the bees have never caused him any problems, though his son is allergic to their stings.
Butt, who lives in an early-1900s house off Virginia with his 23-year-old son Adam, was out of town when the bees first settled in, he said.
“My son was here, and he invited his mom and grandmother over for a mother’s day cookout, so they’re out on the patio and out of the blue this swarm of bees shows up.”
The only disturbance they cause, he said, is when they get stirred up. Butt’s headboard is on the same side of the house as the sealed-off chimney.
That made things interesting during his first years in the house, given at that time a few hundred swallows lived in the chimney.
“When I first moved here, I kept hearing all these weird noises on that side of the house,” Butt said.
His early explanation: “The house might be haunted, but I don’t bother them, they don’t bother me, so I don’t worry about it.”
Now he has a few other ways to look at it.
“We have a few parties here now and then. I don’t know if they’re here for that,” he laughed.
“I know the good lord likes to play tricks on me every now and then, see if I’m behaving or not,” he said.
Butt said there’s also a frog that’s come around every year for several years, that he’s named Fred.
“I’ve had possums living in my lawn mower,” he added.
“It’s never ending out here.”
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