Thread by @GanucheauAdam

My friend’s dad is renovating a house in Hazlehurst, MS. Little ways in, he discovered there are 30,000-50,000 bees in the wall.

I’m at the house right now as a local beekeeper is trying to extract them and move them to his farm.

The idea, apparently, is that bees aren’t super active at night, and this is the right time to extract.

The beekeeper is sawing into the wood wall to reach the hive. He paused just now and said: “One thing for sure, they’re gonna be mad cause I done stirred ‘em up.”

There are six of us non-beekeepers watching this from a few feet away. No idea if this beekeeper is legit or not, but he’s not really worried about what happens when the wall breaks.

Our exit plans are very limited. Here’s the best option:

The contractor, who is apparently allergic to bees. He’s especially nervous because he doesn’t have his EpiPen.

He’s ready to bail down the stairs. “This is some National Geographic shit.”

Ok this is getting interesting. They were first trying to cut through with a saber saw. The blade wore down, and now the guy is on a ladder with a table saw trying to cut through the wood wall.

“I don’t know about this,” the contractor just said.

Beekeeper: “Oh God, they’re roaring in there now. Really got ‘em stirred up. Anyone else want to try to cut this? Oh, they’re mad now.”

Ok, the wall has been cut but it’s still barely standing. Trying to think through the next steps.

Beekeeper: “Now things are about to get really interesting.”

Beekeeper’s friend: “Give ‘em a shot of whiskey.”

Don’t know if y’all can hear this, but they are way louder than before.

The beekeeper is now making smoke (I’m sorry I don’t know the terminology). The smoke calms the bees down a little, apparently. He’ll pump the smoke into the wall and get them in that white box. I asked him how, and he said, “You’re about to see.”

He’s geared up and going in.

Ok the wall is open and the buzz in LOUD.

Surprisingly and thankfully, this seems completely under control. Beekeeper thinks they’ve been in the wall for “10 years or more.”

He’s scraping the bees into the box with a spatula.

He can’t reach most of them, so he’s got a shop vac hooked up and is sticking the hose down in the hive??

Look, I know, who am I to doubt this man? But I got a little worried when I asked him earlier how many of these extractions he’s done.

“I’ve only done two houses, but I’ve gotten a bunch of swarms out in the woods.”

He’s pulling pieces of the massive honeycomb off and dropping them in this bucket. Look at the honey dripping.

Anddddd we have our first (and hopefully last) sting. One guy was asked by the beekeeper to pull the shop vac off the bee box. He got stung on the head. He’s not one of the two people up here who are allergic.

Ok we have to leave. Everything seemed under control, and I think they’re going to be there a while. Only thing they should be worried about is passing out. Very hot up there, and I bet the suit was terribly uncomfortable.

Not that I have to give Twitter permission for this, but please fact-check the bee-related facts. Admittedly, I know little here. Let’s all learn together!

Day-after update from my buddy: The beekeeper successfully cleared out the colony we saw last night.

HOWEVER, he found another one in a different part of the wall. I presume he’ll get that one very soon.

High drama in Hazlehurst.