By day, David Claypool is a professional research assistant working with viruses in a lab at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. On his weekend, he leaves behind the white coat and swaps it for some netting.
Claypool is a beekeeper and on Friday his two jobs collided when he had to rescue a swarm of honeybees on the center's campus.
"I enjoy these swarm calls a lot," he said. "It was fun to kind of mess with them and direct them into the house."
Claypool saved the bees using a nucleus hive, which kind of looks like a cardboard box that's lined with wax.
"They were so excited to have a home and not be on the ground in a ball that they just walked in," Claypool said.
Claypool said the bees are gentle and are simply looking for a home, similar to stray dog.
"They're actually really gentle, social insects and I think that they're just a lot of fun to work with," he said.
He urges anyone who finds a swarm to not spray it with anything but call the Colorado State Beekeepers Association.
"The bees need all the help they can get," he said.
Claypool was waiting for the forager bees to get back before packing up the box and taking it home, where he'll feed the bees and help them gain strength for winter.
"It just feels good to be doing something for a species that's really struggling right now," he said. "It's a lot of fun."
