Watch a Brave Man Remove a Massive Bee Nest Hidden in a Kitchen Cabinet (1000s of Bees!)

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In the stunning video above, a beekeeper discovers an enormous beehive underneath a grandmother’s kitchen cabinet. The video, posted by Jeff Horchoff Bees, gives a fascinating look at what happens when a hive of bees takes up residence in someone’s home. Horchoff’s goal wasn’t to exterminate the bees but to find the queen and safely remove the bee nest to a much better location.

How long did it take the bees to make a hive this big and what should you do if you suspect bees are living in your floors or walls? Read on to learn all about these amazing insects.

Is it Common for Bees to Enter Homes?

While it’s not a normal occurrence for honey bees to build a hive inside homes, it does happen. Honey bees like to make their nests in sheltered areas. They can find their way into homes through even small openings. Older houses are more vulnerable than newer construction. If the bees find a way in and they like what they see, they may begin building a hive somewhere in your walls, under floorboards, or even under a kitchen cabinet, like the video above. When bees take up residence in your home, it’s important to remove the bee nest as soon as possible.

How Fast Do Bees Build Hives?

According to bee experts, healthy honey bees can build a hive within one month. And since a normal bee colony consists of thousands of individuals, a beehive can get big pretty fast. Bees grow their colonies in the spring and summer and hibernate in the winter. When spring occurs, they will once again begin to expand. If you do nothing about a beehive in your home, the colony will continue to expand.

How Aggressive Are Honey Bees?

If you find an errant honey bee buzzing around, it most likely won’t get defensive. They will sting if they are accidentally stepped on, but they won’t seek people out to sting. However, they can get defensive around their hives, which can get pretty dangerous if their hive is inside or around your home.

If you feel a bee bump into you, it is not an accident and the bee isn’t being friendly. Bees will headbutt a person they think is a threat. Next, they will call the other hive members to help with the attack. If you find yourself getting “bumped” into by a bee, follow your instincts and run away. The entire hive might likely be after you next.

What Are the Signs Bees Have Built a Hive in Your Home?

An obvious sign is that you will find bees buzzing around inside your house. While one or two random bees may have come in through an open window or door, if you have repeated bee sightings, there are probably more.

You may see a stream of bees coming and going from a small opening to the outside, such as near pipes or cracked foundations. If you’ve got a full infestation you may hear buzzing sounds in your walls. You may also see stains on your ceiling or walls from the bee’s honey.

Who to Call to Remove Beehives on Your Property?

When you find a beehive in your home, you have a couple of options. You can call a pest removal company or find a beekeeper, like the one in the video above, to remove the bee nest.

There is a lot of misinformation out there and some pest companies may tell you that honey bees are federally protected and can’t legally be exterminated. This just isn’t true. There are no federal or state laws that prevent killing “nuisance” honey bees that have made a hive on someone’s property. It is, however, advisable to check with local authorities or a professional before taking action.

American Bees Don’t Make Honey

You have likely heard of campaigns to save the bees. While the American bumble bee population has plummeted and this important pollinator is in need of conservation efforts, honey bees are actually invasive insects. They were introduced to North America from Europe hundreds of years ago. They are also important pollinators of crops and flowers, but they are thriving and not in danger of extinction.

Despite this, honey bees are fascinating insects with a complex social hierarchy, and you may want to find ways to relocate a colony rather than kill it off.

How Do Beekeepers Safely Remove Hives?

If you’d like to have a hive safely relocated, you can search for beekeepers in your area. If you’re having trouble locating one, you can try finding one through pollinator.org or beeswarmed.org.

Beekeepers work at night when the bees are less active and may use various methods such as smoking to get the bees moved out of their original hive. Beekeepers know how to find the queen among the workers. Once they find the queen, the rest of the colony will follow. You can see in the video above when Horchoff finds the queen he puts it in safely inside a clear plastic hair clip. Without the queen, the entire colony would die off.