Colony of Over 15,000 'Aggressive and Dangerous' Bees Takes Over Family's Home
— -- A neighborhood in southwest Houston, Texas, was abuzz after a colony of over 15,000 "aggressive and dangerous" bees recently terrorized a family just days after a separate swarm took over a vacant house across the street, according to a local exterminator.
Jeff Stanifer of Bee Budget Removal in Houston said he was in the Briar Villa neighborhood on Monday checking in on the vacant house swarmed with bees, when homeowners down the street told him they also had a bee problem.
"I just happened to be at the right place at the right time," Stanifer told ABC News today. "There was a mass of really aggressive and dangerous bees above the garage door packed on the outside in huge clumps. They were definitely making a racket."
The home's residents told him they were "paranoid" and had to go through the back door of the house, he said.
"There were about 15,000 of them in the hive, and they were so aggressive that saving them wasn't really possible," Stanifer said. "If a person is allergic, just a few stings can kill if that person doesn't get treatment fast enough. And even if a person isn't allergic, just 20 stings can be enough to make a person lose consciousness."
This past Sunday, a Texas farmer reportedly died after being stung by hundreds of bees while using a tractor on a field near Rio Hondo.
Though Stanifer was able to exterminate the colony of bees at that took over the family's home, the swarm across the street in the abandoned house remains, he said.
"No one is sure who owns it, and you can't just walk on private property and exterminate bees, so they're still there," Stanifer said. "The city may put a notice and start fining whoever technically owns it."
The secretary for the city did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for comment on the vacant house's bee infestation.
Though the bee colonies at both homes were the same type, Stanifer said it's unlikely that the first swarm overpopulated and moved across the street.
There's not much you can do to keep bees from eyeing your property as their new home, Stanifer added.
"They come randomly, and you can't really predict or prevent them from coming," he said.
