For three decades, bees have been slowly taking over Mr. Jimmy Johnson’s home. Thanks to the nonprofit The Bee and Me, those bees are being evicted.
GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas — A bee problem is getting the boot one week after a Galveston County man turned to KHOU 11 for solutions.
For three decades, bees have been slowly taking over Mr. Jimmy Johnson’s home. Thanks to the nonprofit The Bee and Me, those bees are being evicted.
The beekeeper said there are three colonies on the side of this outside wall. And while they will be able to remove the bees, the aging wood on this home is a little too brittle to put back, so now there’s another problem.
For 35 years, Johnson has felt the sting of these unwanted guests. They’ve moved in and wouldn’t move out.
“I feel like I’m gonna come home one day and find my stuff packed up sitting on the porch, where they done put me out,” he said about the bees.
He first spoke to KHOU 11’s Michelle Choi, showing her how the bees had taken over this outside wall and started making it inside.
At nearly 70 years old, the options have been few.
“They look it over and say it’s too big of a job for them and they say they couldn’t handle it and they take off,” he said.
But, Carlos Hernandez with the Bee and Me, a nonprofit dedicated to bee education and safe removal, took on the task after watching our story.
Monday, he began the long process of removing the hives and smoking out the resident bees.
Three colonies live in the walls. One is already gone. He’ll tackle the rest later, hoping that the spray masks the bees’ scent and insulation plugs the gaps and keeps them from coming back
“I’ll tell you what, I am glad, and I am happy. Get them bees up out of here. Because it hasn’t been easy living with those bees for that period of time.”
All this buzz, Johnson said, comes with a cost. The bees will eventually be gone, but the wooden siding of this nearly 100-year-old home, saturated with honey and years of stress, can’t go back up.
“The guys tell me now they won’t be able to put the house back together the material they’ve taken off is saturated with the honey and it’s no good. You can’t put a nail in it to put it back up,” he said.
Johnson says 30-plus years is a long time to wait and although the trouble isn’t gone, he’s willing to wait a bit longer for a long-term solution.
“I am very hopeful to see the work going on. I’m very hopeful. I’m glad and I’m happy that these people are trying to help me out,” Johnson said.
The beekeepers said they are working to connect Johnson with contractors who may be able to make repairs. For now, they’ll be removing the bees and rehousing them far away from Mr. Johnson’s home.
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