Thousands of bees removed from walls of Palm Bay home

PALM BAY, Fla. — A Brevard County family will sleep soundly Tuesday knowing a massive bee hive is no longer hiding behind the walls of its home.

WFTV first learned about the family's plight in Palm Bay over the weekend when members called Channel 9, asking for help.

The bees took over one wall of the Aguirre family's wood-framed home last week, and the problem only got worse as the days went on.

"When I walked out, they were just swarming," said Pam Aguirre. "There was big swarm in the air, you could hardly see the sky."

On Tuesday, beekeeper Gregg Windham went to the home to help the Aguirres. Windham said the type of hive in the home was one that could grow quickly, noting that even common honey bees can be very aggressive.

"That's why people get attacked. That's when they assume it's killer bees because they spray them or try to do it themselves," said Windham.

Armed with protective gear and a special smoker, Windham got to work, ridding the home of the thousands of bees by the handful. He put them into a special container used to relocate the hive as humanely as possible.

Once filled, the bee trap weighed more than 5 pounds.

The bee expert said the family must still monitor the wall to make sure another swarm doesn't take over since bees like to repopulate areas that already had a hive.

WFTV