Couple makes shocking discovery in farmhouse walls
Though Sara Weaver and her husband expected to put some work into their new home in Pennsylvania, they didn’t expect the 450,000 bees that had been living in the walls for 35 years.
The couple bought the 1872 farmhouse in December last year.
The seller’s disclosure mentioned there were bees living in the walls, but the couple found that the buzzing insects didn’t pose much of a threat when they bought the home.
“On the seller’s disclosure it said ‘bees in wall’ and that was it,” Weaver said.
“I think because one, we didn’t see them and two, we were just so floored that we actually found land in the [school] district that was within our price range that I didn’t really ask any questions about those bees.
“I didn’t think it would be that big of an issue.
“It didn’t even cross my mind, but when spring arrived that’s when we started to see them.”
Image: CNN
When they bought the home, the seller was no longer living in the house and it had fallen into a poor state.
“The condition this house was in was horrendous,” Weaver said.
“It was so dirty and now that I’m thinking about it, I originally thought it was dirt on the windows that I cleaned but it was probably honey because there were drip marks.”
Though the couple didn’t do a home inspection at the time, Weaver admits that they should have in hindsight.
They now have to fork out $NZD 16,766 to remove the bees and reconstruct the home.
The Weavers found Allan Lattanzi, a general contractor and professional experienced beekeeper, to take on the task.
But, when he arrived at the home, he realised he had been there before.
Four years prior, he had been called to the property by the previous owner, but she couldn’t bear the cost of removing them and ended up selling the home.
Lattanzi estimates that 450,000 bees were living in the walls of the farmhouse.
Image: CNN
Over a week, Lattanzi removed each tile from the portion of the home the bees occupied, and found the queen on Friday.
He has since relocated the three honeybee colonies that were in the home, to Yerkes Honey Farm, his farm where he houses honeybees in man-made hives.
“The bees were docile for a colony that has been there for a while,” Lattanzi said.
“Normally when a colony is in a dwelling for a while they’re usually defensive.
“Normally when I pull a slate tile off a house I’m instantaneously covered in very defensive bees attacking me, but most of these girls were pretty docile,” he explained.
“Throughout the entire process, I may have only gotten stung five or six times.”
The Weavers are currently renting the home out to tenants, with plans to eventually move into the house themselves in the future.
Images: CNN