How It All Started

Entrepreneurs, Brothers Market Bags That Bug Bugs

The substance does not kill flying insects; 'but it makes them go somewhere else so they don't bother you.'

A Dyersburg man and his brother, a Kentucky entrepreneur, have stumbled upon a substance that keeps flying insects at bay and are marketing bags of it under the name "BeeTour"
"It really is something," said Howard Guthrie, who is a distributor of the product with his brother, E.C. Guthrie. "People won't believe what it can do until they try it."

E.C. Guthrie said he discovered the repellent, the ingredients of which are proprietary, from a Metropolis, Ill. firm specializing in environmentally friendly materials. Along with the "BeeTour," the company distributes substances that solidify water into a jelly-like element; remove oil from water; and encapsulate petroleum vapors from underground tanks.
Guthrie has purchased marketing rights for each of the materials.
"This is really incredible stuff," said Howard. "And it's all environmentally friendly."
Chemist Joe Hall of Dyersburg helps the pair market the substances and said the materials "are all natural, non-toxic."
To date, the "BeeTour" has been the top seller for residential customers, though the state of Tennessee and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has expressed interest in the other products.
"I love it," said Dyersburg resident Sue Tillman, who uses the "BeeTour" to keep flies from the pen of her two Labrador retrievers.
"It's really amazing. There used to be thousands of flies around the pen that would annoy them so much," she said. "Since I hung two bags over each of their doghouses, there's hardly any to bother with. I love it and I know my dogs do."
Howard said "BeeTour" "definitely has a market in the Mid-South. Especially in this time of the year, when all kinds of flying insects are bothering people. This doesn't harm the insect, either; it just makes them go somewhere else."
The packages of "BeeTour" last "for about 30 days," he said. "Just hang them up and forget about them."
"We hope this is the start of big things," said Howard. "There's no reason it shouldn't be."

-- Dyersburg News: Wednesday, May 26, 1999

beetour@outlook.com