Meet Kieran Chisnall, the bagpiping beekeeper taking on wasp nests so you don’t have to

From piping to pest control, Hawke’s Bay’s Kieran Chisnall never knows what the next day will bring.

Hawke’s Bay Today reporter Mitchell Hageman talks to the region’s most vocal wasp eradicator about his busy summer season and why you should never take on a nest alone.

“As long as I’ve been a bagpiper, I’ve been a beekeeper, so since I was about 8 yeas old,” Kieran Chisnall said.

A quick scroll through Hawke’s Bay community social media pages, and you’ll discover his name pops up plenty of times, sharing his wasp nest-busting exploits or his bagpiping displays.

Depending on the day, Chisnall either dons his kilt for an event, tends to bees, or wipes out wasps.

But the wasp pied piper has a simple message for those who want to take on nests themselves: Don’t.

Chisnall, who set up Hawke’s Bay Wasp Control two years ago, said in the past few months he had been clearing up to six nests a day, and the phone usually goes “nuts” around this time of year.

“It’s pretty dangerous for people who don’t know what they are doing,” he said.

“When people do it themselves, it quite often goes wrong.”

Kieran Chisnall, Hawke's Bay's beekeeping, wasp-exterminating bagpiper, has had a busy summer. Photo / Paul Taylor

According to Landcare Research NZ, wasp nests often reach their peak size in autumn, with the summer lead-up seeing significant nest expansion as the number of workers increases.

Chisnall said he has heard horror stories of people in Hawke’s Bay getting viciously stung without the proper protection and resources.

Wasp nests tend to grow around wooden areas where that wood fibre is chewed and glued together with wasp saliva to form a material that resembles a paper mâché mould.

Chisnall said he recently worked on two nests inside firewood storage boxes around Hastings. He stumbled across one large one in Havelock North purely by accident while doing other work to protect his bees.

“I just happened to turn up at the right time. I don’t know what to expect sometimes when I go to a wasp job,” he said.

‘Sometimes they are much bigger than you expect them to be.”

After applying special powder, he said the wasps “absolutely poured out and swarmed”.

A man working on the property offered Chisnall some money for his work but he refused to take it. He said he’d often do personal jobs out of kindness.

“I’m pretty generous to people. [The man] went down the road and bought me a box of beers back.”

Kieran Chisnall has been a bagpiper and beekeeper since he was an 8-year-old. Photo / Paul Taylor

There was a degree of satisfaction in the work, Chisnall said, knowing that he could help people feel safe on their property.

“One lady said she was very grateful because she no longer felt like she was in a prison of her own home.”

He expects he has cleared “hundreds” of nests in the last couple of years and “come to a few people’s rescues.”

“People keep telling me I’m pretty much the only person in Hawke’s Bay doing wasp control now.”

On a different note, demand for his bagpiping services is also increasing steadily.

He’s performed at everything from the funeral of beloved Hawke’s Bay principal Rob Sturch to a special birthday surprise for a local rest home resident.

“My dad’s also a bagpiper so it’s in the family.

“I’m always out in the public eye doing wasps, bagpipes, or something else.”

Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in January 2023. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community. He has a particular love for stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.