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Swarming bees bug Port Orange neighborhood

PORT ORANGE, Fla. — Neighbors in Volusia County said the bees swarming around one home have become a growing problem and they want the pests gone.

They said the property at 309 Lafayette St. in Port Orange is in foreclosure and has become a haven for bees.

Neighbors are now calling on city officials to hold a bank responsible.

The house looks like a lot of vacant houses in central Florida -- aside from the giant beehive growing under an eave.

The problem has the neighborhood buzzing, and the Port Orange city council is set to discuss a more permanent solution to the problem Tuesday.

A pest control company has already removed thousands of bees.

"They came back. He couldn't get up in the attic to get them all. But he took a good supply of them, then they came back," Neighbor Frank Furman said.

Furman said he thinks it's not that big of a problem.

"They showed up maybe about a year ago, and they just fly around. They don't bother nobody," Furman said.

For those who live right next to the Lafayette Street home, the new batch of bees is too close for comfort.

Some neighbors have banded together to get the courts help in making the owner deal with the problem.

If not, the city will handle the problem and charge the bank that owns the house.

Last year when WFTV first reported on the house, bees had taken over the attic and were swarming by the tens of thousands.

Neighbors said the house has been vacant for more than a year and a half.