Your pears must be very sweet, only thing that I can say is pick in the rain, no rain use a sprinkler with a long apple picker. They are nasty because they know that fall is here. Good luck with your harvest................be careful there might be a nest in the tree. Have someone look carefully for you and be with you while picking them..........They usually go into the nests after day, do you feel comfortable picking at night time with a flashlight & picking pole?