Anyone who knows me (or has even SEEN me outside at just the right moment to really make a fool of myself!) knows how I feel about bees – I’m TERRIFIED of them! I’m braver now than I used to be, but I still run like a maniac anytime they are near.
This past weekend I went to visit my sister for a few days to do some wedding stuff (for her! I’ve already done as much planning for my own wedding as I ever wanted to do!) I had planned to be there for a day and a half and then she’d drive to San Diego to visit her fiance and I’d drive farther North to visit some friends. Well, we ended up being AWESOME and getting done in a half a day, so I decided to leave her house early to continue my trip.
HOLY COW, IT’S A GOOD THING I LEFT WHEN I DID! The next day I got the following email from my sister:
So yesterday night, a swarm of bees decided to make a home in the vent leading to our kitchen. This morning there were hundreds and they would get agitated throughout the day and the sound was crazy. We called property management, exterminators, and bee keepers and no one was available until tomorrow. Luckily, they seem fairly docile just annoying. Later today, they started to come in the vent, the light socket, the edges of the window, and pretty much any other opening so we had to duct tape any and all entrances. Brandon killed about 100 while I sealed the kitchen. The war against the bees has begun and so far we are winning… barely. Wish us luck
She attached the following pictures (I get the willies just LOOKING AT THESE! AAAAAHHH!)
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| Uh-oh, that can’t be good. |
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| Better seal up the kitchen, maybe if they can’t get in they’ll just decide to leave. |
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| Uh, nope. They did NOT leave. In fact, I think that’s more! |
So the next time I get jumpy and panicky about a couple of bees flying by, I’ll just remember that holy moly, it can ALWAYS be worse 
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Those pictures are making my skin itch!! Were they able to get someone out to take care of it yet?
Yes, someone was able to come out on Monday and kill them. They said that this is swarming season (ahhhhhh!) and that there probably used to be some honeycomb in that vent that the current swarm smelled. Once they get into a vent, they figure you go down to exit, and then get confused and lost. But ugh, bees coming through light sockets. I’d probably die of terror!
That’s too bad. Usually keepers can just move the swarm keeping the hive alive. I seriously considered getting a bee box and raising some bees however their swarming instincts (and neighbors) convinced me otherwise.
Some people use bee stings as therapy.
I think there were multiple issues.
1 – The bees had swarmed a vent on a bottom floor apartment directly in front of the pool entrance and main walkway and were affecting a lot more people than just their apartment.
2 – I don’t know how you move a hive when they’re just flying around, but the bees seemed pretty determined to fly IN to the house and couldn’t wrap their heads around flying back out. Other than chasing them all the way through the house and then back out the front door, I don’t think they were going to be coaxed out.
3 – It was a holiday weekend and a lot of them had probably died by the time the person came out to get them.
I have seen articles and shows about bee therapy and I have nothing against a bee, per se. However, if you tried to put a whole box of them right next to my backyard, I wouldn’t be a fan