When the Grahams moved into their new home in Tampa, Florida, they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. They thought they had moved into a good neighborhood, but they had no idea what was going to happen.
They had no idea that their new suburban home had a dark secret in their bathroom. But when they finally figured out what was going on, it would be like something from a horror film.
The Grahams
John and Stephanie Graham were so excited to move into their new home. They had recently bought their dream house away from the city. They had lived in New York before and were looking forward to the peace and quiet of the suburbs.
They wanted to raise their kids in the suburbs of Tampa. They found a beautiful house at a reasonable price. But they had no idea what it would cost them to stay in the property.
Everything Seemed Great
Things seemed great at first. The house was straight out of their dreams. And to make things even better, the weather was a huge improvement from New York. It was a cheery neighborhood as far as they could tell.
But things would quickly change as they noticed something strange. There was something that no realtor told them about that they soon discovered after moving in.
The House Had A Secret
It was early one morning when Stephanie woke up to use the bathroom. She was performing her morning routine of brushing her teeth when she couldn't help but noticed something. She could hear something odd.
She heard something concerning. It was a strange buzzing but they were coming from inside the walls. She tried thinking about if it was the pipes. but she didn't have a clue.
Quickly Forgetting
Stephanie quickly forgot about her encounter and soon it was pushed to the back of her mind. But the weirdest thing was when her husband couldn't hear it.
She heard it every time she went into the bathroom but it soon became a part of her everyday life. But the buzzing progressively got louder, what was going on? She couldn't explain it.
Strange
Normally when noise appears in a house, the homeowner can normally figure out where it's coming from pretty quickly.
Water, for instance, can normally be traced to pipes in the walls around the house. But this noise was strange, it was hard to locate. It was like it was the entire wall that was humming. Then it started appearing in more rooms.
In All The Walls
Stephanie quickly understood that the sound was somewhere in the walls. She thought that maybe it was the tiny scratching of rats. She felt sick to her stomach.
But she quickly ruled that possibility out. The rats wouldn't have been able to get into their new house. The realtor assured them that the walls were airtight with no damage.
What Was It?
The strange sound could be heard in the corners of the rooms. It was subtle at first, but now it was so loud Stephanie thought about it often. The entire bathroom was louder than her hair dryer.
Stephanie still had no idea what was going on. She looked in all of the cupboards and corners of the room. She couldn't find anything. She decided to ask her husband about the problem.
The Husband Decided To Help Out
John decided to see what his wife was talking about and took a look at their bathroom. He heard the strange noise and knew that they needed to find out the cause. He checked everything just to make sure but couldn't find the cause either.
With nothing turning up, John couldn't think of anything that could have been causing the noise he and his wife heard. Then he thought of another explanation.
What about…?
He came to the conclusion that it could have been faulty pipes causing the strange noise. It was the most logical explanation he could come up with. It would also explain a lot of what had happened,
They hired a plumber to take a look at the pipes. But there seemed to be nothing wrong. The house was new, and so was the plumbing system. The Grahams were left with no answer to what was that sound. At least for now.
It Didn’t Go Away
And for the next weeks, they had to live with that noise. It started becoming unbearable. Every time it got louder and louder.
What used to be difficult to notice at first became a major annoyance. Until one day, the Grahams noticed something. Something started happening that would give away what was behind that eerie noise.
Strange Smell
John and Stephanie investigated the kitchen. The noise was louder in here, too - it wasn’t just in the bathroom anymore. Then, Stephanie noticed that the whole room smelled sickeningly sweet and familiar…but she couldn’t quite place the smell.
Something had pooled on the floor in a thick stain against the far wall, and this was where the smell was coming from.
Inspecting The Substance
Stephanie and John inspected the dark puddle on the floor. And then they saw that there was something oozing down the wall in thick dark trails. It looked like very dark tree sap, but how could that be possible?
The entire surface of the wall was slick with it. There was no denying it now. Something was very wrong with their house.
Bees!
Stephanie had been kept up all night by the noise that seemed to grow louder and louder. She was taking a cool shower when she suddenly saw something. There were bees flying around her! But how did they get in there?
It wasn't even summer, the door and window were closed, and she had never seen any bees around the house. Soon, she noticed that they were going in and out of some tiny holes between the bathroom tiles. That's when she finally knew what was going on.
What Was Behind The Wall?
So that's where the overwhelming buzzing noise came from! Apparently, there were bees living behind the shower walls. Maybe there even was a whole hive.
There must have been so many bees that their honey had started to seep through the molding and cornices in the kitchen - which shared a wall with the bathroom. She felt a sense of calm now that she knew that the sound she had been fixating on had a logical cause.
Taking Action
Immediately, Stephanie called her husband and told him about what she’d seen. They decided to call a local bee removal expert so she could handle the issue. The bee removal expert arrived in a big white van.
And when she finally went to work and found out what was behind the shower walls, they were all blown away.
Thermal Imaging
In order to confirm that there could be bees inside the wall, the bee removal expert scanned it with a thermal imaging camera, which detects heat. Bees generate heat by vibrating their wings, which keeps their hives at a toasty 35 degrees Celsius.
When the thermal image showed a dark red patch deep within the shower walls, the Grahams finally had their answer.
Taking Down The Wall
The bee removal expert had to break the shower walls down. Stephanie was aghast when she removed the remaining bricks and revealed the inside wall of the home. But there was just one problem: they were more than what anyone could expect.
There were at least 35,000 bees residing within. They had never seen anything like it.
A 7 Feet Tall Hive!
There was a giant hive hidden behind the Grahams' shower walls! It was at least 7 feet tall. There were hundreds of thousands of bees, all humming and buzzing within the space in the wall.
The Grahams were shocked when they saw it; but the bee removal expert, named Elisha Bixler, had reasons to be excited about the finding.
She Was Delighted
Elisha Bixler was also the owner of a beekeeping company. And naturally, she was delighted by the discovery.
So much that she decided to record it and share it on her TikTok profile. "Look at all that honey!" Bixler exclaims on the video while poking at the big syrupy structure with her finger, "I'm going to take them home to one of my apiaries." But things didn't end there.
They Sealed The House
For a few days, the Grahams' house was sealed by the firemen; the family just couldn't live next to a giant and potentially dangerous beehive.
Initially, the plan was for Bixler to remove the giant hive and move it to one of her vehicles. But soon enough, it became evident that this would be impossible. The hive was just too big.
The House Had To Remain Sealed
There was nothing that could be done about the hive at that moment. It couldn't be placed in Bixler's property, it couldn't be removed and the local laws made it illegal to just exterminate the bees.
So there was only one option left: the Grahams' house remained sealed for the time being, and insurance gave them their money back.
The Hive Is Still There Now
Fortunately, the Grahams were granted a temporary substitute house by the real estate agency. And this one didn't come with a secret giant beehive hidden between its walls.
But the hive house remained sealed indefinitely; at least, until the local authorities and bee removal experts managed to get coordinated and managed to find a solution for the humongous hive.
Attractive To Bees
The voids inside walls are extremely attractive to honeybees seeking permanent nesting sites. Although the house had been sealed and insulated properly, there was a tiny gap in the caulk and wall on the house’s exterior, around the plumbing.
If you have a bee colony living inside your walls, don’t try to deal with them yourself. When beehives are disturbed, they can be lethal.
Beneficial Insects
Although swarms can be dangerous, honeybees play an extremely important role in the ecosystem. Because they are effective pollinators of fruits, flowers, and vegetables, they are vital in ensuring that we have food.
Without them, growing one-third of all our food wouldn’t be possible. That’s why you shouldn’t exterminate them if you find a beehive.
Becoming Endangered
Sadly, entire colonies of bees have disappearing throughout the world. Their populations are dwindling, but scientists don’t know why.
Billions of bees leave their hives worldwide but never return. This is called “colony collapse disorder,” and it’s so bad in some areas that these regions have lost 90% of their bees. In fact, if this continues, bees are predicted to eventually become extinct.
Dwindling Populations
There are a total of eight bee species that are listed on the endangered species list. Like so many other endangered animals, bee populations are dwindling due to habit loss, invasive species, natural disasters, and the overuse of pesticides.
But there are things everyone can do to help the bees - you can even help out from your own backyard.
Plant Pollinator Gardens
You can help the bees by planting fruits and flowers that bees are attracted to. Find out which bee species live nearby, and find out which plants they collect pollen from. Generally, bees are attracted to blue, white, and purple flowers.
At the same time, avoid using synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizer that might negatively affect the bees.
Don’t Exterminate
When bees move into your home, follow the Graham family’s lead and call a professional bee removal service. Simply spraying pesticides into the hive won’t help you in the long run, either.
If you kill the colony of bees, the remaining honey will drip down into your home. This could end up costing more to repair than removing the bees humanely.
Use Smoke
Using smoke to drive an inconveniently located bee colony away is the most humane DIY option. Honey bees are extremely sensitive to smell - when they smell smoke, they think there is a forest fire threatening their home.
Smoking out a bee hive with a smoking piece of cardboard and dead firewood will cause the bee colony to leave and never come back.