Honeybees Invade a Florida Home With Over 80,000 Bees Living in Shower Wall

A professional beekeeper recently got astounded after discovering that thousands of honeybees had invaded a couple's shower wall.

A report from The Seattle Times specified that the couple from Florida said the said insects had invaded their shower wall.

The size of the colony shocked even professional beekeeper Elisha Bixler, whom Dan and Stefanie Graham from St. Petersburg, Florida, had enlisted to save them from a difficult situation.

In an interview, Bixler recalled saying there was honey everywhere, including their floor, walls, doorknobs, and even her shoes. She added, she had to "pull the wall down to the studs" to get all of the bees out.

80,000 Bees and 100-Pound Honey

Bixler approximated there were about 80,000 and 100 pounds of honey when she took out the seven-foot-tall hive early last month after prying away from the tiles of the bathroom. This find was earlier reported by FOX 13, the Tampa Bay Television station.

38-year-old Bixler, the How's Your Day Honey owner said, she needed to put down plastic coverings in an attempt to control the mess.

Knowing something was wrong, the couple called Bixler two months ago. This report said this was not their first bee encounter in their three-floor wood-frame beech house, sitting on all stilts, The New York Times reported.

According to Stephanie, about two or three years ago, her husband ripped the wall open in the same bathroom and took out a gigantic hive.

Living with the Bees

Since then, they had worked carried out in their room, which Graham said, left some holes, an entryway for the return of the bees.

The couple, their two kids, and two Great Danes had learned to live with their so-called houseguests despite the occasional bee stings.

Stephanie said they both love nature, not to mention bees. For them, the thousands of bees in their shower wall were "nice bees," and thus, they let the insects live in their shower.

However, the coexistence needed to end when their family decided to have their bathroom renovated. According to Bixler, she was adapted to taking out hives from roofs, trees, or sheds. Therefore, she said, this is her first shower removal.

What's Causing the Bees to Grow in Number?

According to professor emeritus of entomology Robert Page at the University of California at Davis, odors from the previous colony of bees would have enticed new bees to the shower wall.

Furthermore, added Page, waiting to call someone "to take out the bees from a colony" has major disadvantages. He explained the bees could impair drywall and that the honey can ferment, resulting in smells that can attract ants, Agriculturalextension said in a similar report.

As for Bixler, she saved a lot of honey, which she explained, she fed to the bees that she had rescued and kept at her tiny St. Petersburg urban farm.

The Grahams were holding on to some of the honey for themselves. The Bixler added she told the couple they had a choice of simply biting into that comb or putting it.

Report about the honeybee discovery is shown on News Leader's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on Honeybees in Science Times.