Toronto Bee Rescue

Peter Chorbik of Toronto Bee Rescue doesn't get stung very often, but when he does, it's usually right on the tip of the nose, through his beekeeper's veil. The veil can stick to your nose, which is apparently one of the most unpleasant places to experience a sting. "But like I said, I don't get stung very often," he says, smiling.

Since beekeeping is a summertime activity, the chances of sweltering in a beekeeper's suit are quite high, both for the professional beekeeper and his amateur counterparts. Unfortunately, a lot of bee enthusiasts who set up apiaries in their backyards don't have the knowledge required to properly care for their bees. Poor bee husbandry causes bees to swarm and settle in new (and often inappropriate) homes. This is bad news for the unwilling bee hosts, but it means more business for Peter, who will remove and relocate swarms to his own hives.

"Bees tend to hide in the ceiling in modern homes but in the walls of century homes because they have no insulation," he explains

Bee removal requires equal skill as beekeeping. Some residents will attempt to kill a colony with bug spray, but leftover honey will attract vermin, and eventually, according to Peter more bees. "Bees will come every year to re-colonize the spot until you remove the hive," he explains. Sometimes it's actually another pest control company that calls him, rather than the homeowner. "They don't think it's right to kill the bees," he says.