How a P.E.I. beekeeper rescued thousands of honeybees from inside a farmhouse wall

A contractor working on a home renovation got quite a surprise last week when he discovered thousands of honeybees in the attic wall of a farmhouse.

Josh Warren was working on a old farmhouse in Hamilton, P.E.I. when he saw the insects. When he discovered they were bees, and not wasps, he contacted beekeeper James MacLean, who came to the rescue. 

"They had seen them flying in under the eaves, apparently. And they'd called pest control, and pest control had a look and told them they they were honeybees, so told them to call the beekeeper," MacLean said. 

Big hive, big job

MacLean soon discovered that removing the bees wouldn't be a quick and simple job. He says the hive was about three feet tall and three feet wide, and about eight inches deep. 

"After I had dug down a little bit through the insulation, [I] realized that it was a much bigger colony than originally anticipated. And that's when I had to move down to the lower floor, the upstairs of the house, and cut the wall open," MacLean said. 

MacLean ended up working for two days to remove all the bees, with help from his brother on the second day. 

'An obvious benefit'

A long-time farmer, this is only MacLean's second year doing beekeeping as well. He says he was glad to rescue the bees, particularly because of concerns about protecting honeybees. 

"They're an obvious benefit to everyday life around us," MacLean said. "All the flowers, everything you see, the food, everything hinges on those guys." 

MacLean says there were about 50,000 bees altogether, which was enough for him to create three new colonies. 

More P.E.I. news