A Greater Toronto Area woman has spent the last five to 10 years living with as many as 100,000 industrious, buzzing roommates inside the walls of her home. Now, it鈥檚 time for the Italian honey bees to move out.
鈥淭hey sting if you attack them,鈥� the homeowner told CTV Toronto on Wednesday. 鈥淲e thought they were wasps.鈥�
Living with the massive colony wasn鈥檛 all bad, she said, comparing their home in the walls to a 鈥渟eparate apartment.鈥� She said she did not realize there were so many until a friend pressed his ear to the wall and heard the buzzing.
鈥淎ll I know is there is a lot of them,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey are very busy.鈥�
ICE Pest Control handled the move. Workers in bee suits pumped in calming smoke, and pried away boards from the outside of the building to reveal a sprawling network of honeycomb underneath.
鈥淚鈥檝e never seen that many bees before. It鈥檚 huge,鈥� said pest control worker Nathan Thompson.
Relocating the colony is delicate work. Until about a decade ago, they would have been killed. Now, with bee populations in decline, there is a concerted effort to keep them alive.
The crew used a special vacuum system to suck the bees into plastic containers. Pails of recovered honeycomb will be used to help them settle into their new home with a local beekeeper. Some of it will be refined into honey.
The bees did not seem particularly happy about the eviction. The pest workers said they could feel them bouncing off their protective suits their home was dismantled.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like they don鈥檛 want us here,鈥� joked one worker.
With a report from CTV Toronto鈥檚 Scott Lightfoot
