Should I sell land or keep it ?

[John Harrelson]

A few years ago I had to remove a stump from some land just outside of Carson City Nevada.

After cutting the tree down I was in a quandary as how to remove the stump.. My neighbor said he had the answer and to come take a drive with him.

I jumped into his truck and we ended up at the local Bee farm where they raised Bees for renting to local farmers for pollinating their crops.

I could not figure how in the world a Bee farm could help me remove a big stump from the ground so I just stood there with a blank look on my face while my neighbor talked to the bee keeper.

It turns out that in addition to raising Bees they also raised Termites especially bred for eating tree stumps.

The Bee keeper said using termites was a little slower than using a stump grinder and could take as long as two or three days for them to consume the stump, but unlike a grinder, the termites would eat the entire stump, including the roots as well.

Since this was the first time I had ever used this method, I was unaware that the container held exactly 1000 termites and that I had to return the same amount of termites to the Bee farm or they would not return my deposit..

Now we have all heard how fast rabbits multiply, but let me tell you that a rabbit can't hold a candle to the multiplication process of a termite..

I emptied the container of termites onto the stump on Saturday morning and by Monday morning the stump had completely disappeared. GREAT !! or so I thought at the moment...

It was when I started collecting the termites and placing them into the container for return to the Bee farm that I realized there seemed to be more termites than I brought home.

After carefully counting out 1000 termites and placing them in the container I still had termites crawling all over the ground around where the stump used to be. But I thought... what the heck, they will go away when they can't find anymore stump to eat..

It was about then that I saw what looked like a long black string leading to my house. I remember thinking... hummmmm, that's strange, the string seems to be moving but there is no wind blowing...

When I looked more closely at the string I saw that it was actually a line of termites marching up to my house. I PANICKED !!

I ran over to my neighbors house seeking his advice once again. He said not to worry that he had the answer.. He made a couple of phone calls and then told me that it would cost me two hundred dollars for his friend to rent me the equipment for removing the termites.

I was trapped... I had no choice, if I didn't do something real quick the termites would eat my house.. My neighbor said that his friend would be over about mid-night and deliver the equipment to me.

Mid-night seemed to be kinda late to make a delivery, but I couldn't argue the point as the string of termites were getting thicker by the hour. ... (WOW ! can those things multiply)

Being a long and worrisome day, I decided to get some sleep and tackle the termite extermination in the morning..

Nervous, can't sleep, keep hearing gnawing sounds under the bed... finally get up at daybreak and go outside to see the termite exterminator..

Tied to the bumper of my truck was a big hairy animal with a nose that was as long as it's tail and straining at the rope trying to reach the termite string.

Fearing damage to my truck bumper, I quickly cut the rope and let the animal go... WOW ... what a sight ....that thing was vacuuming up termites with his nose while making soft contented purring sounds... either he really liked termites or was really hungry.

As I was standing there watching this strange site, a police car pulled up to the curb and two officers got out. They didn't say much, just murmured soft and soothing words to me while they gently directed me toward the police car.

The prison doctor delivered a letter from my neighbor this morning.. My neighbor said that the Zoo people had taken the Anteater away before all the termites were eaten and that the beach house was now gone but not to worry, the ocean's salt water was keeping the termites away from the pier where my shrimp boat is moored.

He also said that the Bee farm had offered to buy the land if they could have exclusive rights to the termite population that was on it...

He said that the Bee farm is thinking about expanding it's business and the ability to pull a ship right up to where the termites are would be cheaper than having UPS come out from Carson City to pickup the termite containers..

I wonder if I should sell the land or not ....

[John Harrelson]

A few years ago I had to remove a stump from some land just outside of Carson City Nevada.

After cutting the tree down I was in a quandary as how to remove the stump.. My neighbor said he had the answer and to come take a drive with him.

I jumped into his truck and we ended up at the local Bee farm where they raised Bees for renting to local farmers for pollinating their crops.

I could not figure how in the world a Bee farm could help me remove a big stump from the ground so I just stood there with a blank look on my face while my neighbor talked to the bee keeper.

It turns out that in addition to raising Bees they also raised Termites especially bred for eating tree stumps.

The Bee keeper said using termites was a little slower than using a stump grinder and could take as long as two or three days for them to consume the stump, but unlike a grinder, the termites would eat the entire stump, including the roots as well.

Since this was the first time I had ever used this method, I was unaware that the container held exactly 1000 termites and that I had to return the same amount of termites to the Bee farm or they would not return my deposit..

Now we have all heard how fast rabbits multiply, but let me tell you that a rabbit can't hold a candle to the multiplication process of a termite..

I emptied the container of termites onto the stump on Saturday morning and by Monday morning the stump had completely disappeared. GREAT !! or so I thought at the moment...

It was when I started collecting the termites and placing them into the container for return to the Bee farm that I realized there seemed to be more termites than I brought home.

After carefully counting out 1000 termites and placing them in the container I still had termites crawling all over the ground around where the stump used to be. But I thought... what the heck, they will go away when they can't find anymore stump to eat..

It was about then that I saw what looked like a long black string leading to my house. I remember thinking... hummmmm, that's strange, the string seems to be moving but there is no wind blowing...

When I looked more closely at the string I saw that it was actually a line of termites marching up to my house. I PANICKED !!

I ran over to my neighbors house seeking his advice once again. He said not to worry that he had the answer.. He made a couple of phone calls and then told me that it would cost me two hundred dollars for his friend to rent me the equipment for removing the termites.

I was trapped... I had no choice, if I didn't do something real quick the termites would eat my house.. My neighbor said that his friend would be over about mid-night and deliver the equipment to me.

Mid-night seemed to be kinda late to make a delivery, but I couldn't argue the point as the string of termites were getting thicker by the hour. ... (WOW ! can those things multiply)

Being a long and worrisome day, I decided to get some sleep and tackle the termite extermination in the morning..

Nervous, can't sleep, keep hearing gnawing sounds under the bed... finally get up at daybreak and go outside to see the termite exterminator..

Tied to the bumper of my truck was a big hairy animal with a nose that was as long as it's tail and straining at the rope trying to reach the termite string.

Fearing damage to my truck bumper, I quickly cut the rope and let the animal go... WOW ... what a sight ....that thing was vacuuming up termites with his nose while making soft contented purring sounds... either he really liked termites or was really hungry.

As I was standing there watching this strange site, a police car pulled up to the curb and two officers got out. They didn't say much, just murmured soft and soothing words to me while they gently directed me toward the police car.

The prison doctor delivered a letter from my neighbor this morning.. My neighbor said that the Zoo people had taken the Anteater away before all the termites were eaten and that the beach house was now gone but not to worry, the ocean's salt water was keeping the termites away from the pier where my shrimp boat is moored.

He also said that the Bee farm had offered to buy the land if they could have exclusive rights to the termite population that was on it...

He said that the Bee farm is thinking about expanding it's business and the ability to pull a ship right up to where the termites are would be cheaper than having UPS come out from Carson City to pickup the termite containers..

I wonder if I should sell the land or not ....