Pest Control
As a kid, he was ‘totally into’ the world-famous British pop singing group, the Beatles, telling his mom he would someday also be famous. Apparently, he just named the wrong insect which would carry him into adult career success.
CHILDHOOD
When Bret Davis (BD) was a child, a swarm of subterranean yellow jackets attacked him. The pain from those burning hot stings stayed with him long after the swelling calmed down.
ABOUT HORNETS (aka yellow jackets)
In formal scientific terms, hornets are dolichovespula arenaria. Informally, these insects are ‘yellow hornets’ but most people just call them ‘yellow jackets.’ Hornets are part of the wasp family, one of the thousands of species in the hymenopteran order including bees, ants and other wasps.
If you’re willing to get your nose close enough to hornet nests, the smell would remind you of burnt waffles.
Hornets are more prone to sting when they feel threatened. A single hornet can sting once or multiple times. Sometimes hornets swarm and can cause tens or hundreds of stings.
A single hornet sting generally causes only mild symptoms like an itchy, raised and warm area where the sting occurred. However, some humans (and pets) may experience an allergic reaction that requires immediate medical attention.
CONQUERING FEAR WITH CONFRONTATION
For years, BD worried about wasps and bees, even common house flies when he was outside. Any flying thing that buzzed past his ear made his heart race, and that old fear returned like it was happening again.
“So, I decided to do something about it, to get over that fear, said BD. He took his fear of wasps and hornets ‘into his own hands’ with his self-designed ‘exposure therapy’ – he bought a sting-proof (well, sort of) bee suit and began taking videos of nests near his home, then posting them online.
Since starting his pest control business a few years ago, BD estimates that he has been stung by hornets about 100 times. So far, none have required medical attention beyond home self-care with OTC (over-the-counter) pain relievers.
FIRST ADULT JOB IS NEVER A BINDING CAREER COMMITMENT – YOU MAY FOLLOW PLAN A, THEN MOVE TO PLAN B WHILE HANGING ONTO PLAN C
Following high school graduation, BD continued his formal education to learn about and become licensed as a nurse. This was his Plan A career, though at the time he had no Plan B, much less a Plan C.
A nurse colleague saw one of his first hornet nest-removal videos and said, “Hey, I have a nest for you, if you want to expose yourself some more,” recalled BD.
As a first direction career path, nursing was BD’s Plan A. Now BD earns his living with a combination of pest control and social media income as Plan B. But BD continues to take the annual number of required nursing courses to keep his healthcare knowledge current and thus retain his nursing license as a Plan C career.
TYPICAL DAY IN PEST CONTROL
On a recent, scorching summer morning, BD rolled his truck to a stop outside a large home tucked into the woods. He put on a thick, mesh suit and tucked the pant legs deep into his boots. He donned thick leather gloves, grabbed a mini crowbar, a ladder and his only weapon, an everyday wet/dry vacuum – the kind you’d use to tackle a flooded basement or spilled Cheerios but you don’t need a protective suit to tackle either non-hazardous home emergency.
Up in a roof deck, about 50 yeads away, some insects flew in and out of a tiny opening, back to their hidden nest. The self-described Hornet King was soon coming after them while the homeowner, his wife and a friend sat in chairs a safe distance away, in the garage. The family said no one had been stung but it only took BD a few seconds to see these were no bumblebees – they were hornets.
When BD uncovers a nest inside a house with hundreds, possibly thousands of wasps or hornets buzzing in the room while he vacuums out the nest, he said it’s natural for him to be a little nervous but it’s no longer panic-inducing or a personal indictment against the insect.
“I know that when they’re attacking, that’s what they are supposed to be doing, and they’re justified,” said BD. “It’s not just that they are (bad dudes) with wings.”
“I don’t consider myself an exterminator. I use no chemicals besides soapy water in the bottom of the vacuum to such up every wasp and hornet.” BD knows that the stingers will come back to the hive until he’s got them all. Then he removes the nest, takes it back to his home and feeds the insect larvae to his chickens, an emu, a rhea (which is considered a South American ostrich) and a squirrel named Belle.
Offering an observation as a self-educated biologist, BD says that the primary diet of his chickens is “like insect meat. They love grubs and worms and especially larvae.”
HOBBY VIDEOS LED TO TIK TOK STARDOM AND MONEY
BD is not only now cured of his stinging-insect phobia, he’s also tapped into a life-changing social media honeypot with more than two-million followers on a slew of channels.
How life-changing can sharing how you conquered your fear of wasps and hornets be? BD opted not to discuss all his income and expenses but said that in his first month on TikTok, videos from his Hornet King official account had earned him about $34,000.
“Just turn on a camera and point it at something you’re interested in,” said BD. “My mom watches videos of people organizing closets!”
CAREER SATISFACTION
BD still pinches himself from time to time about his life trajectory, how a fear of flying insects turned into a full-time job.
In addition to earning steady income from his focused pest control business and even more from social media exposure – with no certainty how long his celebrity will last – BD has the option to accept pest control jobs which involve changes of scenery. He has traveled from his main business base in Pennsylvania to Alabama and Georgia to remove nests. He regularly works in Maryland and Virginia.
And, he still has a Plan C.
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This career story was based on a news article written by Jason Nark, published by the Philadelphia Inquirer on August 4, 2024 plus internet research.
