Living in Tucson, Arizona, I frequently hear stories about large swarms of bees taking up residence in the walls of old buildings, churches etc. In most cases, a professional exterminator is called upon to perform the task. However, there are those who believe that minor skill such as pest control are well within their purviews. Submitted for your approval, a man with a very nice house in the northwest part of Tucson discovers that his attic is infested with bees. He sprays an entire can of bug spray in an enclosed area but to no avail. So he does what any normal person would do, he lights a torch to scare the bees off, ignoring warning labels on the can of bug spray. Darwinism ensues.

A week ago, we had a call from a man who had bees in the attic of his very nice home, and he wanted to get rid of them," said Katy Heiden, a spokeswoman for the Northwest Fire District. "He sprayed a can of wasp spray and the bees were not thoroughly intimidated."

In a further effort to get rid of them, Ms. Heiden said, he lit something on fire. "The vapors from the residue ignited," she said, and the attic "went up like a wave,"causing about $100,000 damage to the roof.

Submitted on 08/03/2005

Submitted by: Joel Cunningham
Reference: Salt lake city tribune 2 Aug05

Copyright © 2005 DarwinAwards.com

Jack said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
Ah, another do-it-yourselfer... A bit more pro-active than merely setting off foggers without turning off pilot lights.

Tracy said:
Definitely Toss: No Self-Selection
Just another person ignoring the warnings on a can

Charles said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
I have to agree with Jack -- this one was definitely pro-active, and wirthy of consideration because of that.

Kelly said:
Neutral: Other
I don't know how award worthy this is. I wouldn't light anything on fire in my attic, but then again I know a fair number of people who are otherwise sane and who might. Plus nothng happened to him, just his pocketbook, the damage is to his roof. I like the story though, hate to have to toss it.

Greg said:
Neutral: Other
Hmmmm, toughy! I agree with Kelly, it's definitely stupid to light a fire in your loft. THAT for me would make the DA more than the bug spray ...

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