PSE&G hired a contractor Thursday afternoon to remove a 3-foot hornet's nest in a Ewing neighborhood after residents complained about it for weeks. Watch video
EWING - For more than a month, a large hornet's nest grew on a Franklin Road utility pole, scaring residents and prompting numerous calls to PSE&G while the gray hive swelled to about 3 feet.
In a matter of seconds Thursday, Robert Cave removed the nest - containing 1,000 bees - by wrapping it up in a black plastic bag.
Relieved residents cheered from their front yards, where some watched the spectacle from lawn chairs.
Clad in full bee gear, with a netted helmet, gloves and white suit, the entire operation took Cave about 10 minutes.
"I've been doing this for 20 years, I have no issues with it," said Cave, of Trenton's Western Pest Services.
After PSE&G technicians turned off the electricity in the wires around where the nest was, Cave went up in a crane, swiftly put a black garbage bag around the nest, sprayed what was left of the hive with a freezing liquid and came back down.
Cave said he would throw the bag of hornets in his truck, go back to his office and throw them away, but sometimes he dries the nest out and keeps it as a souvenir.
"I always wanted to give one to my son's science class," Cave said.
Some hornets were left buzzing around where the nest was located but Cave said those were only "drones" who could not build another hive on their own.
While the removal was just another typical day of work for Cave, residents enjoyed watching him work.
"That was awesome," resident Ericka Rogers said. "We've been waiting three weeks for this. I'm glad someone finally came out."
Rogers who lives with her 15-year-old daughter and husband Ronald diagonal to the nest said she noticed there were more hornets than usual in her home and was shocked to see the huge nest where they were coming from.
"I was like 'this is isn't cool,'" Rogers said. "It's kind of scary."
RELATED: Tree-killing beetle detected in 5 N.J. towns
Vanessa and Dan Destefano who live with their twin 7-year-old daughters in the house in front the nest, said they called PSE&G several times to have it removed, the first time in early August.
Vanessa Destefano said they called when the nest was much smaller then went on vacation to North Carolina and came back the last week in August to a much larger nest.
"I just don't want anyone to get hurt," Destefano said as Cave suited up. "My husband is highly allergic and we don't know if my daughters are too. It's not safe for anybody whether you're allergic or not."
"I've just been watching it grow and it's still growing," said Bruce Winslade, who lives to the left of the Destefano family.
Rogers said she too called PSE&G three weeks ago after noticing the nest and was told "we're aware of the situation and we're working on it."
A spokeswoman for PSE&G confirmed that a call was made about the nest in late July and she apologized on behalf of the company for "the oversight."
About three weeks ago, after repeated calls from residents, PSE&G Overhead Construction Manager Mark Janoska said the company started looking for a contractor to come take it down.
Janoska said PSE&G had worked with Cave before to remove a bee hive so they called him.
Coincidentally, Janoska said just that morning Cave had removed another nest for the company in Cinnaminson, but the situation is usually a rare one for the utility.
PSE&G provided the trucks and crane and turned off the power for 254 customers for about 15 minutes to ensure Cave's safety, Janoska said.
"And now we're done," Janoska said after the short process was over.
Lindsay Rittenhouse may be reached at lrittenhouse@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
