Bothered by Bees

A woman in Jasper is dealing with an invasion of bees.

The problem began three years ago.

Jennifer Heathcock took us inside the home to investigate why the woman has been living with the bees for so long.

"I can hear them," said Linda McDonald.

All the buzz can be heard in Linda McDonald's walls.

"This year they're back on the west side of the house and south side of the house... there's two groups," McDonald added.

She noticed the bees 3 years ago when they began colonizing inside her bedroom wall. McDonald didn't want them killed, just removed, and she's been willing to live with the problem-- until it returned, with a vengeance, this spring.

"Seems like millions of bees in the walls, just buzzing around," said McDonald.

They found any available crack and let themselves in.

"I was standing on the dresser, using the plastic to cover the a/c unit and they were just flying all around my head," said McDonald.

McDonald isn't scared of the bees, she says they mean no harm. But she did hear them swarm in her front yard.

"I looked up, looked like a tornado, just black. They were flying everywhere, just this way... this way," said McDonald.

Her daughter fears a different kind of swarm.

"I'm afraid to come over and find my mom covered in bees."

They agree there must be "hundreds of thousands"

of bees, and a 61-year-old woman shouldn't live like this.

Exterminators told McDonald it would cost $300, just to kill them; and it could take three months.

"They call and say they're going to come, but no one shows up," added McDonald.

So for now, McDonald is stuck with the endless buzz.

"It's a little frightening to come home and have bees all over your room, flying around your head."

"I'm afraid for her life," said McDonald's daughter. Until then, she'll be living in the middle of their hive. You never know what bees will do."

Linda McDonald tells KFDM News a beekeeper from Lufkin has agreed to come to Jasper and take a look at the hive.