The daily Astorian., August 26, 2016, WEEKEND EDITION, Page 7C, Image 29

7C
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2016
YELLOW
JACKET
HUNTER
Retired biologist has been collecting the stinging
insects for pharmaceutical use since 1986
By LUKE WHITTAKER
EO Media Group
L
A plume of wasps swarm from the nest as Roush taps a garden hoe next to the nest in
Ilwaco. After 10 minutes, he’s collected 80 percent of the hive.
ONG BEACH, Wash. — It begins with a
peculiar sign on the edge of Sandridge Road
in Seaview. It ends with a vaccine that saves
lives across the U.S. In between is Carl Roush, a
retired biologist who has been collecting the sting-
ing insects for pharmaceutical use since 1986.
“This year the p eninsula had more common
yellow jackets than anywhere. Everyone that
called had them,” Roush said. “I collect them live,
freeze them and then ship them to HollisterStier
Laboratory in Spokane.”
Roush, 65, has been practicing this same rou-
tine for more than 30 years, primarily in the
Longview area. But on a Friday in early August ,
he made his last trip of the season to the p eninsula,
where one of Rous h’s signs along Sandridge Road
was noticed by Ilwaco resident Kelly Bone. Bone
reported a basketball-size nest of yellow jackets on
the corner of his garage, and Roush came ready to
collect.
Buzzing business
Within 10 minutes, more than 80 percent of the wasps have been caputured.
After a few minutes packed next to dry ice, the wasp drift asleep due to the released
carbon dioxide . Roush then separates the males which have no pharmaceutical use. The
remaining female wasps are repacked with more dry ice and sent to Spokane where the
venom is extracted.
Kelly Bone, far left, and William Budd, look on while Jamie Bone, 9, listens intently to Carl
Roush as he dissects a wasp nest following a collection in Ilwaco. Roush retired from
teaching biology at Lower Columbia Community College three years ago.
Most retreat at the sight of a nest swarming
with wasps, but Roush leaned in for a closer look.
“This is a really good one,” Roush beamed
as he unloaded a shop vacuum and a garden hoe
from his Subaru, the two simple tools he has used
for nearly three decades. Moments later he was
back on the ladder only a few feet from nest of
900 buzzing yellow jackets. A few raps on the side
of the garage and a gust of wasps fl ush from the
opening. Methodically, Roush moved around the
hive, sucking in wasps by the handful.
“Zoop! Zoop! Zoop!” Roush admits he some-
times becomes mesmerized by the all movement
and unfazed by the potential of a painful sting. It
happens, but it’s rare.
Within minutes Roush has caught most of
them, which he estimates to number near 900, a
sizable nest for the species. It’s one of his last col-
lections of the season, and one of the best for this
particular species. Most of his calls this season
have been in the Ocean Park area for ground nests,
which sometimes contain up to 2,000 wasps. A
more calculated approach is needed for the bigger
underground colonies, where wasps have a ten-
dency to crawl up pant legs and fi nd their way into
seams of clothing. Roush seldom gets stung, the
result of decades of experience working around
the insects. Instead he considers ladders to be the
riskiest part of the profession.
“My worst experience was falling off a lad-
der,” Roush said, describing a fall 10 years ago
that ended with a serious knee injury. But he’s had
his bad days with stings, too.
“I was collecting a western yellow jacket
nest that was very sizable, about 2,500 workers,”
Roush recalled.
“I was pounding on the ground around the edge
of the tree and all the needles collapsed, plugging
the tunnel.” Carefully, Roush began to remove the
needles blocking the opening.
“I did my next little scoop and WHOOOSH! I
was covered with at least 500 yellow jackets.” The
swarm piled on his headgear, stinging his neck and
any exposed skin.
“I had 10 stings in one stop. That’s the worst
it’s ever been,” Roush said. “I’ve learned a lot
since then.” The experience wasn’t entirely nega-
tive. Six of the stings were on his Achilles tendon
that had been a source of daily soreness.
“I was a runner at the time and my Achilles ten-
don was always infl amed,” said Roush, who had to
routinely remedy the soreness with ice and aspirin.
“Well, those six stings were right on that tendon
and the tendinitis went away for six months. For
six months it was gone,” Rouch said. It revealed
a fi rst-hand experience of the medical wonders of
the venom.
“The venom is used for arthritis. It’s usually
from honeybees, but it causes a similar infl am-
matory response that elicits our defensive cells to
react and repair. And it happened to me by acci-
dent,” Roush said .
Extraction follows collection
After Roush has collected the wasps, a pains-
taking process of venom extraction follows. Pack-
Photos by Luke Whittaker/EO Media Group
ABOVE: “Only the females sting,” said Carl
Roush, demonstrating by letting a male
wasp walk along his tongue. A retired biol-
ogy professor, Roush, 65, has researched
stinging insects, such as bees and ants,
since 1978. TOP: Whether it’s a queen,
drone or a worker, each wasp serves a
specific purpose to the colony.
aged in a styrofoam box, the wasps are placed in a
cooler next to a chunk of dry ice. Within minutes,
the carbon dioxide released from the ice causes the
wasps to slip into a deep sleep. After the males are
separated, those remaining are placed in a Ziploc
bag, labeled, packed on dry ice and shipped off to
Jubilant HollisterStier, a pharmaceutical manufac-
turing facility in Spokane.
“And then someone with forceps pulls each
stinger and cuts off the poison sack into a beaker.
The process is repeated 5,000 times per pound,”
said Roush of a venom-extraction process that var-
ies depending on the species and colony size.
“With a honeybee hive, they can put a glass
plate on a platform and on that plate they put a cop-
per grid and run a mild electrical current through it.
The bees sting the grid and the venom drips onto
the plate. The volatile component evaporates and
they have pure crystalline venom,” Roush said.
The electric technique isn’t widely used with other
species because the colony sizes are smaller, mak-
ing it impractical. Paid by weight, Roush some-
times fulfi lls his 10-pound quota before the offi cial
season, which runs June through September. The
smaller-colony species garner the highest prices.
Bald-faced hornets are most valuable because
they’re the most diffi cult to obtain in numbers,
according to Roush.
“Basically, it’s a supply-and-demand cycle,”
Roush said. “The western yellow jackets, each col-
ony has so many that it’s easier to collect them.”
Value in the venom
The extracted venom has a variety of medi-
cal uses, many of which are still being researched.
Where some people have allergic responses to
stings from honey bees, yellow jackets, hornets or
paper wasps, the venom can be used a precursor to
prevent such severe reactions when introduced in
smaller doses.
“It’s a vaccine,” said Roush. “It builds up
their tolerance by giving them minute doses of
the venom, should they encounter the real thing.”
Alternative research and anecdotal accounts sug-
gest bee venom has potential use in alleviating
symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, as well.
There are numerous misconceptions about bees
and wasps that Roush routinely addresses, largely
based on common misidentifi cation.
“Wasps are stinging insects that eat meat. Bees
are stinging insects that visit fl owers for pollen and
nectar. It’s that simple,” Roush said. And it’s typi-
cally just a few yellow jackets that give the whole
hive a bad name.
“Only a few members from each colony learn
that they can scavenge food off your picnic plate.
Yellow jackets aren’t bad. Their role in nature is
to collect insects. They are a benefi t,” Roush said.
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