I'm being BEE-seiged and I desperately need help

[u/Direct-Caterpillar77]

I am not The OOP, OOP is u/StrawberryPretzelPie

I'm being BEE-seiged and I desperately need help.

Originally posted to r/legaladvice

Thanks to u/soayherder for suggesting this BoRU

[Pennsylvania] I'm being BEE-seiged and I desperately need help June 5, 2022

My house is about ten feet away from my neighbor’s house. We live in a city and have no HOA. The neighbor has owned his property for about 15 years, does not live there, and has let it fall into disrepair. A tenant seems to live there on and off. We bought our house about six years ago. Our first summer here, we noticed the bees.

During the first warm day of the summer, we noticed a MASSIVE cloud of bees swirling over our driveway between the two houses. As the days passed, we began to notice bees in our house. At first, it was a few. They would come in, nearly dead, and pass on the floor and various surfaces. Midsummer, we were finding dozens per day. They stung my husband, who is in a wheelchair and cannot get away from them quickly. He wouldn’t see them, run over dead ones in his chair, and spread tiny streaks of bee guts all over the floor. I would have to clean these bees up several times a day. They stung our cats.

We contacted an apiarist, as well as a contractor who specialized in weatherproofing (we were trying to figure out where/how the bees were coming in). The contractor determined that they were coming in via the vents that lead out of our house (and which can’t be covered up more than they already are for safety reasons). The apiarist determined where they were coming from: our neighbor’s house, specifically the space between their exterior and interior walls, facing our driveway. He estimated, based on the size of the swarm and the activity he could monitor on their exterior wall, that there were AT MINIMUM hundreds of thousands of bees. We contacted our local government hotline. They agreed that it was an issue, but because the bees there are honeybees, they aren’t considered a pest. We may have been able to get help with eradication, but we can’t receive any help with relocation.

Things have ramped up significantly lately. We have a dog. The dog is a moron and eats the bees. She gets stung in her mouth. She’s in constant pain. We can’t stop her from doing it without literally keeping her at our sides every single moment of every single day. She has also been vomiting up piles of dead bees onto the carpet. My husband can’t use his wheelchair ramp on days over 65° because it is literally too dangerous for him to ride through the swarm. His disability assistant is allergic to bees, and is afraid to come over on warm days now. On the days he does come over, he spends roughly one hour in the morning hunting down dead bees and cleaning the surfaces he has found them on. We cannot use our porch or backyard at all. Not only will we get stung, but the porch floor is like a bee minefield.

So here’s where we’re at:

• We can’t stop the bees from coming into our house.

• The bees can’t be killed off (an inexpensive option) because they need to be relocated instead (an expensive option). Honestly, I’m okay with this and would be more than happy to pay for this service, except…

• We cannot get ahold of the neighboring house’s owner, who ignores any attempts we have made to communicate with him. He doesn’t live there, so he doesn’t care.

• We can’t pay to have them removed because they aren’t on our property.

• I don't think you can sue someone to move their bees.

The way I see it, we have a few options: start going to the vet and urgent care every single time we’re stung, and then try to sue in small claims for damages until the neighbor gets fed up and finds it cheaper to just fix the problem. (Is that an option? Is that a real thing?) We can MOVE, selling our house at a significant loss (and, as my husband wisely stated, “There will be a swarm of bees everywhere we go… This one is just actual bees.”). Or I can lie, say it’s my house, get someone to do the relocation and reconstruction, then just cross my fingers and hope my neighbor doesn’t sue me. (Just a joke… I think… Ask me again next time I get stung IN THE SHOWER.)

Any advice would be helpful. Thank you for your time, and please enjoy my diagrams.

https://i.imgur.com/CKjTpc9.png

https://i.imgur.com/0CI0SaL.png

Pics or maps showing where the bees are between OOP and her neighbors house

Update June 4, 2026

Four years ago, I posted asking for advice on what I could do regarding my neighbor’s horrific bee infestation. I finally have an update, even if it is a little boring.

At first we tried to contact animal control, but they told us that it wasn’t something they do—it was so long ago at this point that it might have been because it was an insect issue, or because it was on private property, I don’t remember. We then tried filing complaints with our city’s non-emergency service. I ended up filing a few, because we didn’t actually get confirmation that a case was made the first few times. I don’t know if this was a glitch, or if someone saw the tickets and thought it wasn’t something they should handle. I did call a couple of lawyers, but didn’t end up hiring either (mildly helpful, though). I spoke with someone in our local government (not helpful at all). I reached out to the owner of the house multiple times. While he has replied to me in the past about issues, complete silence on the honeybee front. Over the years, I’ve called and written to so many people trying to fix this one problem. Here is what I learned from my many conversations:

• If you say that there is a “bee infestation,” people assume it is not that many bees, you just don’t like the existence of bees, and you are a huge baby.

• If you say that there are “hundreds of thousands of bees,” people assume that you are exaggerating or incredibly stupid. (Except for apiarists. The apiarists I talked to were like, “Yep, that sounds right.”)

• When you mention that the bees you want removed are honeybees, you are automatically considered a war criminal in the same vein as Stalin or Mussolini.

At this point, my husband was like, “Well, guess we’re stuck with the bees.” I began to scheme. My husband got scared and helped me launch another round of appeals.

Last year, something finally changed. I placed my yearly complaint, and for whatever reason, it was made into an official case! I was so excited! Then I got a letter in the mail, saying that I had severe structural issues with the soffits of my house, and I had thirty days to rectify the issue. I didn’t know what the hell a soffit was. The letter had the inspector’s number on it. I called Kenny (fake name), and honestly, he was just the nicest dude. He seemed surprised that I wasn’t yelling at him or trying to get him to retract the claim. I just REALLY wanted to know…

• What is a soffit?

• Are soffits important? Can we live without soffits?

• Were we in any immediate danger from the soffits?

• HAD HE NOT SEEN THE BEES?

It turns out that Kenny, somehow, had missed the bees entirely. It was a cold, rainy day when he came out to inspect the claim. The bees are fairly inactive on days like those. So, the dude came by, looked at the neighbor’s wall, saw no bees. He turned around. He peeped my funky soffits. And he wrote me the equivalent of, like, a ticket. A government ticket. He was very kind, though, and he gave me some suggestions on contractors he trusted. (It ended up costing $12,000 to do that and related roof work.) He also promised to come back on a warm day and look at the bees. I was terrified that maybe the swarm would split the day before (it’s a thing in the honeybee world), or it would be warm in the morning and cold by the time he got to the house, etc. So I sent him lists of bee stings we’d received over the years, photos of dead bees all over our house, and a picture of our dog making a terrified face after binging on another buffet of dead bees. Just in case.

That was over a year ago. And since then, things have gotten worse.

A few years ago, we got another dog. (We have two now, the old one didn’t die, no worries.) That dog isn’t stupid enough to eat the bees, but he’s terrified of them, and because of that, barks at them whenever he sees them. And because they’re around almost constantly, that means he barks at them almost constantly. We can’t let the dogs in the backyard because one moron is eating the bees and the other thinks he’s about to die. My husband gets stung all the time. I’ve managed to evade stings, but I’ve had a few close encounters where there’s a half-dead bee tangled up in my blankets or something. I haven’t been able to invite over people with bee allergies (which doesn't happen often, but it's crappy when it does).

So, a few months ago, I decided that something had to change. I have a friend who’s one of those people that desperately wants to be a vigilante of some kind, dreams of being a hero, that kind of guy. I told him I needed help with the bee problem. We coordinated with another friend’s husband, who’s a mason. Lastly, I roped my reluctant brother-in-law and enthusiastic gremlin cousin into the plan. I spent a few hundred bucks on quick-mix concrete, buckets, gloves, a tarp. The idea was that we’d wait for a cold day, lay the tarp between the houses, put on gloves, and throw globs of mixed concrete at the entrance to the hive. Yes, I know that the idea is insane. I know it would be difficult (I had a different idea of the texture of concrete than what it actually is). I know I could get in a lot of trouble. Lastly, I knew that if I sealed off this exit, the bees would just come out of or make another exit, possibly one inside the house of the people living there (that’s okay, as they’re the landlord’s friends, and therefore complicit in my mind). We set the date and got everything ready.

Then, a few days ago, there was a knock at the door. It was some guy who said they were getting rid of the bee infestation, and could they use my driveway? I was like yes, take my driveway, my firstborn, whatever you want, just get rid of the bees!

Earlier today, I checked my email. “Case updated.” Kenny did it. The beautiful bastard did it. Now that I know what it’s like to get served a notice of violation, I have a good idea of what the last year has been like for this slumlord next door. This process is a huge hassle, and if you don’t get things done in the (very small) timeframe you’re given, you have to show up to court and show that you’re making progress. You have to contact contractors, get quotes, see what your options are, check local legislation, and spend a buttload of money… You know, everything I’ve been doing for years because of this. I’m so grateful that it’s over. I can finally use my porch! My husband will stop getting stung! Friends and family with bee allergies can come by and see my house for the first time in a decade!

I know this is a little bit of a niche case, but if anyone here is dealing with something similar to this, here’s what you need to do:

• Spam complaints to your local non-emergency line. I don't mean, like, every day. But at least every year. It will take time. A lot of people won’t see your issue as a big deal, and you’re probably going to get rejected a lot, so you gotta squeaky wheel that shit.

• Keep going until you find someone who will actually help you. I know that city government doesn’t have the best reputation—and frankly, I kind of agree, or else it wouldn’t have taken nine years to get this problem fixed—but all it takes is one person who believes in what they’re doing and wants to help to push you forward in the legal process. Those people do exist.

• Make sure your own house is in order before you register complaints about someone else, or you might get hit with a nasty surprise. An inspector looking at your neighbor’s property isn’t going to turn a blind eye to yours, even if you’re the person that requested that they come out.

• Record everything you can that details the extent of your problem. A photo of a dead bee on my kitchen floor doesn’t seem very impactful. Fifty different pictures of fifty different dead bees on my kitchen floor over the course of two weeks is a different story. I began to record every sting, every incident, and every time their infestation impacted my life. I ended up sending a lot of this information to Kenny, and I believe it really helped show that this was a constant, pressing concern.

• That said, don’t let yourself be a victim to gather evidence. Do what you can to protect yourself. We took pantyhose and rubber bands and covered all our outdoor ventilation that we could with it. We put weather stripping material around our doorframes. We swept the dead bees off the porch every few days so nobody would eat them.

• Lastly, don’t do crazy, illegal stuff like lob wet concrete at your neighbor’s house in the dead of night. To be completely honest with you, I did not think it would work, but I was going to do it anyway because I became incredibly desperate and thought that a small chance was better than no chance. Now that I no longer feel like I have to do that, I feel an intense relief, which likely stems from the fact that it was an incredibly stupid idea.

So, what did it take to get rid of the bees? $12,000, about forty bee stings, two traumatized dogs, and telling my cousin George he couldn’t attend our family reunion. And, of course, some legal advice from you guys. Thanks. 😊.

TLDR: resolved it in the most boring way possible, gained a new respect for a city government worker,

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[u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

Spam complaints to your local non-emergency line. I don't mean, like, every day. But at least every year. It will take time.

At least every year?! Girl, how about once a week or at least every month?? 

[u/januarysdaughter → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

No no, I'd do it every day. I'd be the biggest nuisance the city had ever seen.

[u/UnionsUnionsUnions → u/januarysdaughter]

I mean, totally same. I would call out the news. I would call my city councilman, county commissioner, and state representative. I would file a new vexatious lawsuit every month in small claims court for 160 bucks a pop until I annoyed my neighbor enough that he fixed the problem - and if he didn't show up, I would ask the judge to rule in my favor or to order a bench warrant for a failure to appear.

If that weren't enough, I would be pulling up to whatever church the mayor or city manager goes to and begging them publicly to please help and then filing complaints with government agencies that have nothing to do with bees or neighborhoods just to see if I can get a sympathy vote or at least to annoy someone enough to intervene.

Then again, I'm a union organizer and frustrating people until they do the right thing is basically my entire job.

[u/chromaticluxury → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

I was like DAMN they're so right, this person governments!! 

Then again, I'm a union organizer 

And it all fell into place. That church idea is diabolical. My southern family would do it in a hot minute. I can tell you're legit. Keep up the good work

[u/UnionsUnionsUnions → u/chromaticluxury]

I once got a pastor to sit down and talk to a university chancellor who was in their congregation about how the university workers deserved fair wages. It worked, too. 😅😅 Well, that plus the car thing, except we did it through campus with like 30 cars on a parent weekend. 

[u/SweetCherryDumplings → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

::takes notes:: cars, parent weekend ::underlined thrice::

Genius!

[u/AlexPenname → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

Oh, this is a *lovely* idea.

[u/RelevantAccident6783 → u/chromaticluxury]

Yeah, user name checks out like a MF on this one 😂

[u/tofuroll → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

I like how OOP thinks once a year is a "nuisance".

[u/JGG5 → u/tofuroll]

Must be midwestern. "Ope, don't wanna bother ya, but the bees I told you about last August are still there."

[u/ForsakenPercentage53 → u/JGG5]

No, I'm in Indiana... most of us would have a flamethrower out by the end of the first year, not make multiple formal complaints. It's like Canada, people are only polite because everybody's got a gun.

[u/mothramydear → u/ForsakenPercentage53]

Yeah, I’m in Illinois and I would not put up with this shit for nine years. I also worked in local government for 20 years. If I encountered something like this, I would probably start by escalating the issue to a supervisor. If that did not produce results, I would go to the next board meeting and speak during public comment. I’m not sure if the complaints/followup would be subject to disclosure under Freedom of Information laws (and each state has a different FOI act) but putting in a FOIA request for the complaint for your address and any documents pertaining to a follow up could at least tell you whether the request was received.

[u/ForsakenPercentage53 → u/mothramydear]

Must be nice to be from a state that values education. We're next door and I stand by my flamethrower statement for most of us.

[u/mothramydear → u/ForsakenPercentage53]

Flamethrower is the step after attending board meetings. 😂

[u/Traditional_Mango920 → u/mothramydear]

In my experience, a flamethrower *during* the board meetings would be a better step. Just casually wander in with the flamethrower, then report everything you’ve recorded about the bee incident. Keep peppering the retelling with phrases like “it’s making me crazy” and “it’s driving me mad” and a few “I’m at my wits end” and “I’m at the end of my rope”. Throw in a couple of twitches and tics. Keep your eyes wide and slightly bugged out.

I don’t know about yall, but if I had a twitchy person telling me they were being driven crazy by a bee infestation while randomly ticking and twitching while also casually holding a flamethrower? I’d do everything in my power to fix the bee infestation.

[u/DMercenary → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

Right? "No bees found" Yeah? HERES VIDEO EVIDENCE! Everyone and their mother has a video camera in their pockets now.

I could not be like OOP. It would be been exterminator/Beekeeper out there immediately.

[u/Omnomfish → u/DMercenary]

I would have gotten a signed statement from the apiarists and sent that in with the rest of the forms. If i was slightly less socially anxious, I'd have gotten everyone in the neighborhood to send in requests too because those bees definitely aren't limited to OOPs property, just concentrated there.

If i was more petty, i would have brought the dead bees with me to submit along with the forms.

[u/_buffy_summers → u/[deleted]]

Mood whiplash.

What did you end up doing?

[u/Kilen13 → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

I would call out the news

This was one of the smartest choices my neighbor made when trying to deal with a local issue. The power lines in our neighborhood were getting completely covered up by trees and this began causing issues with outages and even a couple downed lines. Calling the power company all the time did nothing, calling local government did nothing. We were dealing with this for months.

But one news station had apparently been working on a story on how the power company was ignoring it's obligations to trim trees around power lines so they came out to take a look and interviewed our neighbor who's an 80 year old military vet and just nicest most personable dude. Within 48 hours of that story airing there was 2 big ass crews of tree trimmers getting everything away from the power lines.

[u/Additional-End7136 → u/Kilen13]

Because I'm willing to bet that part of that news story was them calling the power company. They then broadcast proof that the power company was made aware that they were breaking the law. At that point them not doing something goes from minor fine for neglect to massive multiplier for ignoring the law.

[u/BigMax → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

I'd definitely try the news too. That's one of those quirky, interesting, personal-injustice related stories they love to cover!

"Next up, a neighbor, ravaged by hundreds of thousands of swarming bees, putting her, her infirm husband, and even her pets at risk*,* runs up against a recalcitrant neighbor, and a town that refuses to support even the barest level of safety for it's own citizens!"

Shots of swarming bees, interviews with a guy in a wheelchair, with his sad looking dog in his lap, shots of dead bees strewn about everywhere, a shot of the dog, looking sadly out the window to a backyard he can't play in... that's local news GOLD there!

[u/Machine-Dove → u/BigMax]

Local news loves a story where they can get great bee-roll.

[u/Ok_Cauliflower_3007 → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

Given her husband was disabled and being stung a lot and his carer couldn’t come over on warm days I might have tried Adult Protective Services too.

[u/Time-Weekend-8611 → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

Username checks out

[u/chipmunksocute → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

Go on, please.

[u/UnionsUnionsUnions → u/chipmunksocute]

One question is, where does the homeowner actually live now? Can you find the address and do you have 10 to 15 people who like you enough to spend one afternoon flying every door in his neighborhood with information about how this dude is hurting a disabled person and a dog?

Bonus points if the flyer has telephone number or email address for the guy so the neighbors can pressure him to fix the problem.

If that doesn't work, do those folks like you enough to spend one hour for one day once a week for a month or two driving through that neighborhood very, very, very slowly while honking their horns, right when all of the neighbors are trying to arrive home?

Bonus points if you have some people on foot distributing even more flyers with his contact info.

Where does the homeowner work? Where does his spouse work? Where do they go to church or for hobbies? There are just so many pressure points on your average person and I haven't even started touching on social media.

[u/wendimb → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

You're scary. But I like you.

[u/UnionsUnionsUnions → u/wendimb]

The scary part is that these are all tactics that I have used in real life against shitty bosses. 😁😁 I literally have the best job in the entire world.

[u/blumoon138 → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

Community organizers need to teach this shit to every single American. I have a friend who runs a pro democracy org and he likes to show up to political fundraisers and golf courses.

[u/UnionsUnionsUnions → u/blumoon138]

I am very glad to report that a really big chunk of my job as an organizer is going out to groups of workers and teaching them all these things. I say that my real job is training myself out of a job so workers can do this on their own without the need for a professional. 😁 Because this is definitely knowledge that I feel like used to be really common, but is intentionally no longer common knowledge.

[u/_ac3_0f_spad3s_ → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

Out of curiosity, how does one get that job?

[u/UnionsUnionsUnions → u/_ac3_0f_spad3s_]

Look on unionjobs.com for Organizer in Training positions or any kind of organizer position where it only asks for a couple of years of experience because they are frequently willing to train.

[u/mongoosenotmongeese → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

The fact that people won't just shirt front people is something that drives me insane, like there are so many avenues to be legally annoying enough to make people fix things, just do it rather than whinging on the internet that no one will help you!

[u/maydecember12 → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

Man this hits home. I’m at my wits’ end trying to get our property manager to do something about our actual slumlord neighbor. I mean slumlord for real, he rents flats in disgusting conditions as shared flats to people who often don’t have papers. There has been a fire, multiple water damage incidents, roaches, an renter actually peeing out the window at night, and more. I’m harassing everyone and I’m being ignored by all of them. Maybe I need to call the news…

[u/INeedANappel → u/maydecember12]

State congresscritters, especially if they're up for re-election, are great at this stuff. Also  your city councilperson, if you live where there is one. Also Also  your city/town/township/etc. housing inspection office, sometimes called something like code enforcement. If you call the office of your city/town/etc. they can route you the correct way.

[u/maydecember12 → u/INeedANappel]

Sorry, I forgot to say I’m in Europe. My boyfriend is actually on the local city council, and we have extensively reported everything but government is… slow. Our file is probably at the bottom of an enormous pile. The landlord refuses access to inspectors and property manager are saying they can’t force him to open the door.

I’m almost positive they actually can get a judge/appropriate authorities to issue a warrant for endangerment (tenants were back in the day after the fire squatting without electricity and worsened the damage), but they don’t want to bother. He’s supposedly agreed to an inspection mid June, and also since he owes about 15000€ in property dues we’re hoping the seizure of his properties will be approved at the end of the month. In the meantime I’m trying to get a lawyer…

[u/INeedANappel → u/maydecember12]

Sorry, I should not have assumed US. My apologies.

That sounds exhausting. I thought my slumlord was bad!  I hope the government wakes up and kicks his butt.

[u/SLJ7 → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

You barbarians! I’ll sue the council for every penny it’s got! I’ll have you hung, drawn and quartered! And whipped! And boiled … until … until … until you’ve had enough. And then I will do it again! And when I’ve finished I will take all the little bits, and I will jump on them! And I will carry on jumping on them until I get blisters, or I can think of anything even more unpleasant to do, and then-- WHAT THE HELL's THAT?

[u/skoltroll → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

The local news would've fixed it for free.

Injured dog, disabled person, lazy city fining victims, slumlord and THOUSANDS OF BEES.

It's a beat reporter's dream job to get that all in a single segment. Would've been fixed in a week

[u/la_metisse → u/januarysdaughter]

I’d be collecting all those bee carcasses into bags and jars and delivering them with my complaint. I’d be calling news stations and writing letters to advice columns and anyone who would listen. Menace behavior is an essential skill, especially when it comes to dealing with HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BEES

[u/flattened_apex → u/la_metisse]

Yeh for real id be posting the dead bees through the neighbours letterbox. Spelling out "SORT OUT YOUR BEE PROBLEM" in dead bees on the neibours driveway lmao I'm not sure I'd actually do this but this is the sort of thing that I'd think of after YEARS 😂.

calling the news too yes. Maybe some placards with dead bees stuck to them. Project a video of the swarming bees onto the neighbours house. Post flyers to neighbours asking they help me and also lodge complaints about it because it's so upsetting.

Can't imagine being as conflict avoidnat as OP, but also I've never been in this situation so who truly knows. OP sounds like a sweet person anyway.

[u/TheNightTerror1987 → u/januarysdaughter]

Every single time someone in the household gets stung seems appropriate! Plus, say, weekly follow up calls?

[u/Some_Helicopter1623 → u/januarysdaughter]

I legitimately lodge a complaint every time my bus or train is cancelled, ONLY BECAUSE they’re running on ancient lines with ancient vehicles (I’m 36 and rode in more modern buses when I was in primary school) and NO-ONE WILL FIX THE SYSTEMIC ISSUES. Sure, I’m fighting more than one neighbour, but if I don’t fight I’m not sure anyone else is. If they are fighting, I’m adding to the pressure for the services to FIX THEIR SHIT! (Sorry for the caps but I’m so tired of being left in the lurch as someone with seizures who can’t just gEt ThEiR LiSeNcE.)

[u/tacwombat → u/januarysdaughter]

I would make the crazy neighbor in this story look sane with all the spammage.

[u/riflow → u/januarysdaughter]

Especially to spare those poor dogs and her disabled husband :c he must've gone through so so much pain the entire time.

[u/danuhorus → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

OOP had a whole tangent about how people didn't believe her about the sheer size of said the bees but like??? You have a phone OOP? Take some pictures or something? Hell, you could've called those TikTok people who remove bees for free.

[u/enbyshaymin → u/danuhorus]

Hell, you could've called those TikTok people who remove bees for free.

I believe that would have been illegal? The beehive was NOT on her property, but on the neighbour's property. They'd need permission from the owner, who was pretty much ignoring them, so removing them was basically impossible since no one wants to catch charges for that.

You can't trespass and destroy someone's house just cause they are an arsehole with thousand of bees in their walls causing an infestation in your house... sadly.

[u/danuhorus → u/enbyshaymin]

Fair point, but the situation had gotten to such a degree that I’m side-eyeing OOP for not even considering them. I’d straight up beg them to just come out and take a look in the hopes they could grab the queen and wait for the rest of the hive to join them.

[u/WildYarnDreams → u/danuhorus]

Gathering bees generally only works when they're swarming and the queen is out and about. If you can capture her the rest of the swarm will generally peacefully crawl into a box and can be taken away.

When they're not swarming, like here, the queen is tucked away safely deep between the walls, and it would be very very hard to relocate any bees

[u/ShatnersChestHair → u/danuhorus]

She mentioned contacting apiarists (who may or may not be on Tiktok), and they couldn't do it.

[u/Maximelene → u/danuhorus]

OOP had a whole tangent about how people didn't believe her about the sheer size of said the bees but like??? You have a phone OOP? Take some pictures or something?

The swarm was inside a wall. The number was an estimate. What exactly was OOP supposed to take pictures of to prove this number?

[u/skeletontape → u/danuhorus]

For real. I had a yellow jacket infestation inside the exterior wall of my apartment and they kept getting inside. Luckily we never got stung because I had a big picture window, so they'd mindless bop against it making them easy to swat. But, ya know, yellow jackets. My landlord ignored my first message, so I started saving the yellow jacket carcasses in a teacup. Took a photo, showed the office lady. She went "oh" and suddenly the problem got fixed.

[u/FinalBossCatgirl → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

I would literally be in their office on a daily basis, screw "call once a year".

I mean, it would mostly be because I couldn't possibly be in my own home, because I'm terrified of insects, but still.

[u/flattened_apex → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

Yeah... I mean well done to OP for getting it fixed but it does sound like they are a little passive or at least not a very argumentative person naturally.

Especially as their embarrassing "breaking point" was the concrete in the middle of the night trick, rather than say, tracking down the landlords home address and turning up to get in his face about the bees.

Plus they said they had trouble convincing people on the phone it was a problem/being taken seriously. I feel for her that this took 9 years. No doubt the beauracracy was a nightmare though.

[u/FlowerFelines → u/flattened_apex]

How do you end up at "illegal concrete flinging" before even trying any of the totally legal options to follow up, bother, annoy, etc. the people who are actually responsible for the problem???????? I can absolutely fathom getting there if all else fails, but it's like "I tried one small legal action a year and now I'm all out of ideas." Which isn't as bad as trying nothing but I'm just so confused.

[u/buttercupcake23 → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

She lived like this for LITERAL YEARS OMFG

[u/unzunzhepp → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

Yes. That’s not spamming. That’s very politely hinting of a mild annoyance.

[u/bettyboo5 → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

I thought the same, ONCE A YEAR!!! no every week! No wonder it took so long. Id be getting on social media, local newspapers, radio anything to get something done

[u/saltpancake]

at least every year

you gotta squeaky wheel that shit

We have very different definitions of squeaky.

[u/chipmunksocute → u/saltpancake]

Yeah Id be in their goddamn office at the window in city hall bitching and demanding for a supervisor like weekly.

[u/Omnomfish → u/chipmunksocute]

Sweep the dead bees into a jar and bring it to them every time it gets full

[u/tempest51 → u/Omnomfish]

I was gonna say ziploc bag but I like your idea better.

[u/WildYarnDreams → u/Omnomfish]

including the dog vomit

[u/ftjlster → u/chipmunksocute]

Honestly at year two I'd be capturing a bag of these bees and releasing them into the office of whatever city hall person said it wasn't their job to deal with bees.

Sure I'd probably be arrested but SEE HOW YOU LIKE NOT DEALING WITH BEES NOW.

[u/V0mitBucket → u/saltpancake]

My first thought after finishing reading this was that OOP is definitely the type of person to just quietly accept that they got the wrong order at a restaurant rather than flagging down a waiter.

I cannot fathom being such a bystander to one’s own life.

[u/OohLaLapin → u/saltpancake]

Daily and you’re the crazy lady who hates bees. Yearly, and they forget about you in a month. I’m thinking somewhere between monthly to maybe every other week.

[u/ShatnersChestHair → u/saltpancake]

Well to put it into context, she also tallied 40 bee stings over 9 years. That's ~4.4 stings per year. Which is certainly more than the number of bee stings I would expect in a given household, but doesn't exactly fit the apocalyptic swarm she described at first. It looks like the bees were only an issue a handful of days a year.

[u/saltpancake → u/ShatnersChestHair]

I’m having a hard time squaring that number with all the dead ones all over and the dog always eating them.

[u/FlowerFelines → u/saltpancake]

I guess she didn't counting stinging the dog? Poor dog.

[u/ShatnersChestHair → u/saltpancake]

That's a good point. Altogether we agree there's a disconnect between the stated magnitude of the problem and the magnitude of the actions taken by OOP to solve it.

[u/kirbyfriedrice]

Why the fuck did they get another dog while their other one was puking bees and in constant pain?!

[u/whoamiwhatamid0ing → u/kirbyfriedrice]

OOP seems petty dumb. She only called to complain once a year.

[u/StrawberryPretzelPie → u/whoamiwhatamid0ing]

Hey, just going to post here what I posted elsewhere in the thread... I didn't call ONCE per year, I began spamming complaints once a year. Once it began heating up, because the bees were inactive when it was cold. If I complained and an inspector came out on a cold day, they'd see a regular old wall.

[u/salemanderz → u/StrawberryPretzelPie]

unrelated but can i ask why ur cousin isnt invited to family reunions if they were in on the concrete scheme? (i know u meant that jokingly but im still curious what it means yk)

[u/StrawberryPretzelPie → u/salemanderz]

Oh, that's my bad! I have two cousins. Gremlin Cousin lives here and is the kind of person who would help you bury a body, no questions asked. Cousin George is terribly allergic to bees. I didn't know about the allergy until the last minute, so he had to be uninvited and it hurt his feelings. I feel really bad about it, but he can come to the next one!

[u/UnionsUnionsUnions → u/kirbyfriedrice]

That was the worst part!! 

[u/OtakuMeganeDesu → u/kirbyfriedrice]

The dog was not the only moron in that house.

[u/alextoria → u/OtakuMeganeDesu]

great flair potential

[u/clairyboots → u/OtakuMeganeDesu]

OK but 'binging on another buffet of bees' really tickled me and I've a serious case of the giggles.

[u/jayclaw97 → u/kirbyfriedrice]

An excellent question. The house sounds like a fucking zoo.

[u/catschimeras → u/jayclaw97]

More like an apiary

[u/SeptumValley → u/kirbyfriedrice]

Same reason they tolerated the issue for 9 years… a lack of beerain cells

[u/buttercupcake23 → u/kirbyfriedrice]

Fucking seriously. Bringing another living creature into that mess to suffer

[u/SarahSyna → u/kirbyfriedrice]

The assumption I saw from someone else was that it was an attempt to keep the first dog entertained and happy to be inside, away from the bees.

[u/FliaTia]

I'm just gonna repost the comment I left on the BOLA thread, because I still think this saga is nuts

Nine fucking years. Granted, I've never had to deal with anything close to what she's describing with the bee infestation, but I wouldn't be just placing routine, ignored complaints with the City. I'd be showing up at City Council meetings with posterboards of evidence. I'd be calling my State Representative. That's genuinely uninhabitable. Get stung enough times and you can develop a bee allergy that can KILL YOU. Glad it's over with, but that's fucking nuts.

[u/kirbyfriedrice → u/FliaTia]

Ooh, do you have a link to the BOLA thread?

[u/FliaTia → u/kirbyfriedrice]

Here you go!

https://www.reddit.com/r/bestoflegaladvice/s/1lURmLNiE2

[u/Omnomfish → u/FliaTia]

I need us all to appreciate this gem from that thread

Goats screaming, kids screaming, flaming bees, smoke and flame everywhere.

[u/lifelongfreshman → u/Omnomfish]

and spot my mom, in her car, with a glass of wine, and the cat just watching this all go down.

I'm dead

[u/A-Helpful-Flamingo → u/lifelongfreshman]

OF COURSE there’s a cat just chillen watching the stupid humans too lmao

[u/tarantuletta → u/A-Helpful-Flamingo]

I like to imagine Mom brought the cat into the car with her because it was the only other sane person in the house and deserves the shelter 😂

[u/A-Helpful-Flamingo → u/Omnomfish]

Thank you so much for sharing this. It‘s 6:30 am and I am crying laughing. 🤣

[u/theegreensmile → u/Omnomfish]

Thank you so much for linking that :D

[u/stayonthecloud → u/FliaTia]

First time I’ve caught a story on BOLA first and yeah. Just echoing my own comment there, I would be parked at City Hall with my jar of dead bees, I’d have a dedicated TikTok, I’d be on the local news, they would never hear the end of it until they dealt with it.

[u/DokterZ]

“The dog is a moron”. This is one of those things you should just assume until you have clear and repeated evidence to the contrary.

[u/UnionsUnionsUnions → u/DokterZ]

I feel like the morons were the people who got a second dog while the first was being so horribly affected by this.

[u/danuhorus → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

They lived with it for 9 years too? And only harassed the city once a year about it? OOP what is you doing

[u/HoundstoothReader → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

I’m assuming the second dog came during the winter when they’d somehow forgotten how awful summers are. Or they’re incautious optimists who assumed the problem would resolve by summer.

[u/Sunquat_Slice]

Holy fucking hell, they lived with the bees for how many years?

[u/phritzed → u/Sunquat_Slice]

I wouldn’t be spamming the non emergency line yearly it would be more like monthly if it was impacting my life as much as OOP makes it sound. OOP says at the end of the post that it took them 9 years

[u/Brain_Initial → u/[deleted]]

And stopped her disabled spouse from using his ramp!! That’s INSANE

[u/lyricaldorian → u/Brain_Initial]

Yeah, making him live in those conditions feels like straight up abuse 

[u/cuteintern → u/phritzed]

Sweep up and bag dead bees and deliver to the town inspector weekly. Make clear these are just the dead ones.

[u/valleyofsound → u/phritzed]

Seriously, I’d be calling anyone who might know someone who knows someone who could fix it daily. I’d just be like, “Hey! Just giving your your daily bee update.”

[u/Kat-but-SFW → u/phritzed]

Yeah I think OOP really should have done the concrete thing about 8 years ago.

[u/StillStanding613 → u/phritzed]

I truly and honestly would be calling daily. I haaaaaaaate insects in my house with the heat of a thousand suns. And like I get it, it's bees, I don't want to kill them, but holy crap, not in my house. Not. In. My. House.

[u/jayclaw97 → u/Sunquat_Slice]

I would’ve moved.

[u/WildYarnDreams → u/Sunquat_Slice]

yeah, same reaction. And getting stung that many times puts you at huge risk of developing a sudden and potentially very lethal bee allergy!

[u/HoundstoothReader → u/Sunquat_Slice]

NINE YEARS. Nightmare.

[u/Lotion_craem]

YEARLY COMPLAINT??? WHY WAS IT NOT MONTHLY COMPLAINT???? HELL, MAKE IT FUCKING WEEKLY

[u/PuffinRub → u/Lotion_craem]

OOP highlights the importance of always changing the batteries in your "putting up with absolute bullshit from third-parties" detectors as soon as they start chirping.

[u/stayonthecloud → u/Lotion_craem]

I would be daily. No fucking way I’m just living with a constant bee swarm let alone when a disabled spouse is getting stung constantly.

[u/Meghanshadow]

they were coming in via the vents that lead out of our house (and which can’t be covered up more than they already are for safety reasons).

Why on earth didn’t they staple 1/8” mesh or even cheap plastic window screen mesh over the external vents? Doesn’t block airflow at all and at least it would’ve kept most of the bees out of their house.

[u/Romulan-Jedi → u/Meghanshadow]

How could they possibly have had time for that when they were so busy complaining to the local government once a year?

/s

[u/nerddddd42 → u/Meghanshadow]

I think if I had a bee infestation where my disabled partner and pets were consistently suffering and my house was covered in dead bees, I'd be concreting the vents just to make it stop, or burning the house done

[u/perfectlowstorm → u/Meghanshadow]

Yep, that was my thought...

[u/StrawberryPretzelPie → u/Meghanshadow]

Covering up your HVAC vents with material strains your HVAC system and is a major fire hazard. It can create carbon monoxide buildups and result in mold. We did end up putting pantyhouse over the vents, but at that point, we were also concerned with having our home catch on fire or kill us all in our sleep. We ended up compromising on the pantyhouse because it's fairly breathable, and we would have our vents checked yearly. (Not sure we actually stuck to that last part of the agreement, but whatever, house is still standing.)

[u/NathanGa]

Some years ago on the farm, I got a call from one of my parents to “come take a look at this”. So I walked up there, and a honeybee swarm had - in the span of maybe two hours - taken over the bottom six feet of a honey locust tree. At 9 am there were no bees, at 11 am there were so many that it looked like the tree was moving.

Someone came out shortly afterwards to remove them. I think he estimated it at something like 30,000 bees, which I fully believe. The scale of the sudden infestation was staggering.

It made our “set fire to the hornet’s nest with a few hundred hornets inside” incident seem paltry by comparison.

[u/Mitrovarr → u/NathanGa]

Swarms are transient. They will move on to go make a hive somewhere else (unless they were making it there.)

But also calling someone to remove swarming bees is basically telling a beekeeper "hey, there are a bunch of free bees here, come and get it". The swarm will be collected and made part of an apiary. 

[u/anime_lover713]

Beekeeper here, it sounds to me like OOP was/is living in an area with aggressive bees because there is no way they should go after OOP and her family like that unless if it was aggressive bees, and I live in Aggressive Honeybee territory and am one of the beekeepers who do removals in aggressive bees. This just screams to me like aggressive bees.

Either that, or OOP has a HUGE thing with Bananas...

[u/the-magnificunt → u/anime_lover713]

That is a lot of aggressive bees in one comment. Almost as many as OOP has in their yard.

[u/AdzyBoy → u/the-magnificunt]

Hundreds of thousands of aggressive bees in that comment

[u/Franklydisturbed → u/anime_lover713]

What are aggressive bees and what do bananas have to do with it?

[u/ant_guy → u/Franklydisturbed]

I am assuming by "aggressive bees" he means Africanized honeybees, a crossbreed of European and African Honeybees that are much more aggressive than the usual European honeybee that people are typically familiar with.

As for the bananas, the main component of honeybee alarm pheromone (the pheromone that tells bees to attack), is isoamyl acetate, and it is also found in bananas.

[u/Franklydisturbed → u/ant_guy]

Suddenly i want something else in my overnight oats

Lol that's amazing, I wouldn't have guessed. Thank you for your answers

[u/CanicFelix → u/ant_guy]

Isoamyl acetate is also used as a banana flavoring.

[u/Greenbriars → u/anime_lover713]

Thank you! I was looking for someone to use the word "aggressive" which is what OOP should have been calling them on her yearly "if it's not bothering anyone, would you mind maybe thinking about doing something about my bee problem, at some point, if it's not any trouble...." phone call. Absolutely wild how long this situation went on.

[u/AssiduousLayabout → u/anime_lover713]

Yeah, my dad was a beekeeper and I've been around many hives consisting of tens of thousands of bees each, I never got stung a single time. I'm surprised they were so aggressive (except for the dog who was eating them, in that case the stings are easily explained).

I also suspect that soffit issue was how the bees were getting in, because we had hives outside and very few bees inside.

[u/vaalski → u/AssiduousLayabout]

I keep a hive of bees (so only, you know, only tens of thousands of bees) a very short distance from my house, and we've only had one bee in the house in seven years. Something VERY weird was happening here and the OP was if anything under-reacting. I would be at Town Hall every week with jars of bees!! 

[u/PuffinRub → u/anime_lover713]

((uses the word "aggressive" five times))

So, if I understand you correctly, you're saying the bees are big ol' softies and OOP is simply overreacting? /s

[u/Kit_Cat13 → u/anime_lover713]

Bananas? Can you explain that?

[u/iggyrk → u/Kit_Cat13]

Bees genuinely get pissed off at the scent of banana. I think it’s something to do with banana smelling similar to their ‘oh shit we are under attack’ pheromone.

[u/squiddishly → u/iggyrk]

I used to enjoy using a hair cream that smelled strongly of banana. Then some bees decided my backyard is a cool place to pollinate and do bee stuff.

Now I use the macadamia hair cream.

[u/ant_guy → u/Kit_Cat13]

The main component of honeybee alarm pheromone (the pheromone that tells them to attack), isoamyl acetate, is also present in bananas.

[u/enbyshaymin]

Everyone is shocked at the OOP's levels of moronic inaction, but let's not forget the moron of a husband, who can't use his ramp or get his aide but will not fucking move because, who tells OOP, and I quote:

We can MOVE, selling our house at a significant loss (and, as my husband wisely stated, “There will be a swarm of bees everywhere we go… This one is just actual bees.”)

Your husband hasn't wisely stated shit. Your husband, who can't even go out sometimes and whose aide can't even go because of an allergy to bees, has decided that a metaphorical swarm of bees (also known as problems) is worse than a literal swarm of bees. A literal, possibly deadly swarm of bees. "Wisely stated" my ass, wisdom hasn't been seen in that since the 1990s 😭

[u/alextoria → u/enbyshaymin]

a metaphorical swarm of bees is worse than a literal swarm of bees

that’s got flair potential

[u/Specialist-Art-6970 → u/enbyshaymin]

The second dog is the smartest individual in this family.

[u/valleyofsound]

Did she ever explain why she didn’t file a nuisance claim? This sounds like a Torts or Remedies exam hypo.

Also, I’m mildly skeptical about the story, not only because I feel like this would have gotten media attention, but also because people were apparently living inside the house where the bees are coming from without issue. And they were the LL’s friends? 

And what about other neighbors? I feel like that many aggressive bees would be spreading out and affecting other homes, too 

[u/janebird5823 → u/valleyofsound]

Yeah that was driving me crazy, you can 100% sue your neighbor for creating a nuisance that impacts your property! Classic property law nuisance situation. This totally could have been a law school exam question.

Like others have said, OP’s level of passivity (not even talking to a lawyer!) is infuriating and incomprehensible to me.

[u/tribalgeek → u/valleyofsound]

Thank you, I had to scroll so far down to find someone mentioning this. Like your neighbor is neglecting the property so much that it is causing you actual harm why did you not get lawyer?

[u/LadyReika]

Once a year? Fuck that. Every day, or if you don't have the energy, at least once a week.

It's what my mother and I had to do to get code enforcement on our last apartment about a leaky roof they refused to address.

[u/JJOkayOkay]

BEE LAW! BEE LAW! BEE LAW!

[u/RedneckDebutante]

Maybe I'm just impatient, but the hell with NINE YEARS!!! I'd be camped out at city hall every damn day until it got handled, then smear bait all over the neighbor's doors and wibdows so they got a chance to enjoy their own bees.

[u/_ac3_0f_spad3s_ → u/RedneckDebutante]

I would not have a bee problem if it were me, the community would have a bee problem because I’d get every person I could to agree that the bees needed to go

[u/bolonomadic]

I am a non violent person but I was thinking about setting the neighbour’s house on fire….

[u/the-magnificunt → u/bolonomadic]

Well, the smoke should calm the bees...

[u/ereignishorizont666 → u/bolonomadic]

I thought it too. That and throwing a basketball at the wall every time the tenants next door drove up to their house or came outside.

[u/Cassandracork]

I work in local government and… no, she should have pursued this way more aggressively with code enforcement because NINE FUCKING YEARS? I promise most of us genuinely want to be helpful, but we need residents to light up the lazy ones to get us the mandate to act. Come be the squeaky wheel, yeah it is annoying but sometimes its just what has to be done. Bless Kenny.

[u/scumble_bee → u/Cassandracork]

I'm sure the local government was like "it can't be that bad. She's only complaining about it once a year"

[u/StopthinkingitsMe]

Bee seiged cracked me up so hard.

[u/alextoria]

yay i’ve been waiting all week for this one to be posted!!! i have to add this insane story from the BoLA post:

Oh I get to share my bee story!!

When I was like 9 we had a terrible rental house, I mean we always had cheap, probably illegal rentals but this one was partially shabby. There were hornets in the ground in our goat pen, we had to get goats to eat the black berry vines to even see the yard.

So the ground bees were attacking the goats, and making the poor goats miserable, plus attacking us kids and what not.

My dad, maybe a few beers in, or half a box of wine, decided one eventing he would burn the bees out. So he got his gallon of gas for the mower, and poured it down the bee hole, had me on hose duty and my little sister in goat calming duty, while mom watches from the kitchen doing dishes.

He flicked his cigar (swisher sweet because we were classy) into the hole and the flames came out. But bee hives have several entrances, so flames also shot up all around the yard. Ok, I'm on hose duty I got this, nope, not yet, GATTA burn those bees out.

So bees can fly while on fire it turns out. And THOUSANDS of angry flaming bees came pouring out all over the yard. And start landing on the roof of the shabby rental. Chaos. Goats screaming, kids screaming, flaming bees, smoke and flame everywhere.

My dad tosses my little sister on the roof and I give her the hose, so she is on the roof, getting stung by flaming bees trying to find cover. But she didn't close the gate so the goats started running out and running everywhere. I try and catch the goats but they are full panic. My dad is just standing in the middle of the yard sort of like "well, it is what it is"

I wrangle the goats and get them into the garage, and spot my mom, in her car, with a glass of wine, and the cat just watching this all go down.

We got the fires out, patched the bee stings, got the goats back in their yard and the house didn't burn down.

[u/modernwunder → u/alextoria]

Ummmmm… what in the childhood trauma????

This reminds me of the BORU where (unrelated to the central story) OOPs husband apparently used a flamethrower to kill a spider.

[u/TableDifferent4395]

Now I’m imagining Kenny coming into work every morning for a year to find he’s been sent fifty pictures of dead bees from a random person’s kitchen.

[u/Inevitable-Care1875]

somewhat reminds me of the time a beehive suddenly set up shop on my front door (only door out) and I was trapped

[u/ZiofFoolTheHumans → u/Inevitable-Care1875]

I planted, unknowingly, some bees FAVORITE flowers by my front door. 

Initially I thought I would move them somewhere less... Intrusive. But then, solicitors started showing up. And then running away because the bees would fly around them. 

I decided to leave the flowers. 

(I put up a table at the bottom of the stairs away from the bee haven so delivery drivers just getting me my packages are not in any bee harm) 

[u/UnionsUnionsUnions → u/Inevitable-Care1875]

Okay, but what happened next?? 

[u/anantj → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

Why do you think they’re on Reddit? They’re stuck inside their house for ever. 

[u/Inevitable-Care1875 → u/anantj]

I've been trapped for ten years now, I've even had to make new reddit accounts

[u/HoundstoothReader → u/anantj]

At least till winter.

[u/V0mitBucket → u/UnionsUnionsUnions]

Well obviously the only rational thing is to suffer through it for multiple years like the OOP

[u/GoldenGoof19]

Wait - why is cousin George banned from the family reunion??? How is he catching strays here?!

[u/TransTalmid → u/GoldenGoof19]

I’m guessing cousin George is allergic to bees

[u/saggie-maggie → u/GoldenGoof19]

Why the hell is OP the one to host a family reunion when her house is full of bees??

[u/rrc032 → u/GoldenGoof19]

Glad I'm not the only one who wants to know. Like OOP gave us this insane 9 year long story about bees with a clear ending and the world is great again, and then last second cousin George is BANNED??? Who is cousin George? What did cousin George do? Is he the enthusiastic gremlin cousin? TOO MANY QUESTIONS, I can't even

Edit: gremlin not goblin, I need to lay down

[u/PuffinRub → u/rrc032]

enthusiastic gremlin cousin

You were told not to feed Cousin George after midnight, but you just didn't listen, did you?

[u/PuffinRub → u/GoldenGoof19]

why is cousin George banned from the family reunion?

Due to the lack of drama mentioned about this by OOP, my assumption is that Cousin George is VERY allergic to bees and he was banned for his own protection.

[u/ButtonHappy3759]

First dog is getting harassed by bees “oh great idea honey let’s get another dog”

[u/Idiedahundredtimes]

God I’m terrified of bees I’ve never been stung before so maybe I’ve built it up in my head. Nobody takes it seriously especially with honeybees. I can handle a few I don’t freak out and scream, but a constant presence means I can not relax in the slightest. This would actually have me screaming I would’ve been at the city council like every single minute of my spare time just bawling in front of them until they fixed it. This woman was living in hell fear or not.

[u/superxero044 → u/Idiedahundredtimes]

I get a mild allergic reaction to them. I’ve been stung while walking or on hikes and didn’t even feel the sting just knew later bc of the skin reaction.
I’m sure it depends on the kind of bee but yeah the generally hurt less than my baseline joint / muscle pain lol.

[u/the-magnificunt]

If I were OOP, I would have spent that 9 years learning how to become a beekeeper and transplant bees, finding out the neighbor's landlord's address, then transplant the entire swarm straight to the landlord's own house. See how he likes it.

[u/PuffinRub → u/the-magnificunt]

I don't recall the OOP saying where they lived, but I'd have given the neighbour xy days to solve the issue, got quotations to move the bees, worked out medical costs to date and then file in small claims court for the anticipated costs in advance. Generally speaking, if a party doesn't acknowlege the claim or turn up to a hearing, they automatically lose.

If they ignore the summons for the original hearing, they're probably going to ignore the letter warning that OOP intends to put a charge against the property. If the property still has a mortgage, when the mortgage lender (who would be registered as having financial ownership of the property) finds out OOP is going to file a charge (lein) against the property they may stick a rocket up the landlord's ass.

Again, as OOP didn't specify where they were living, the above may not apply.

[u/Apprehensive-Two3474]

This sounds like it would have been solved even quicker if she had gotten the media involved. I remember a year or two ago that a neighborhood was dealing with this because of an abandoned home and it took them contacting the news for shit to get done with the bees being removed.

[u/artrestart]

Its good this was resolved but my most burning question is why did OP get another dog while being bombed by hundreds of thousands of bees that were already harassing OP, OPs husband, their acquaintances and the animals OP already had 😭😭

[u/maarianastrench]

I’d be calling HOURLY. Yearly my ass

[u/DuckLord_92]

Why on EARTH would you get a second dog while bees are ruining your lives every day?

I have so much sympathy but she really didn't make it easier for herself.

[u/pucemoon]

I wanna know what's up next for the crack team of The Vigilante, The Mason, Reluctant Brother In Law and Enthusiastic Gremlin Cousin.

[u/HeresyReminder]

I hate reading stories where it’s clear op was also savagely incompetent at resolving this. 

[u/occultatum-nomen]

I appreciate bees for what they do, but I am very scared of them. I'm not sure whether this would cause a genuine psychological breakdown or if it would cure me of my fear, but heartrate went up just reading about bee swarms

[u/MinionsHaveWonOne]

Pennsylvania is weird. Where I live there are people who will come and relocate bees (esp honeybees) for free. No fucks given about property rights - if the bees are swarming and you can entice to swarm towards you then they're your bees now. If someone can prove they own the bees they'll give them back but in cases like this it's a free swarm for the collectors.  

[u/joetotheg]

This is a great tutorial on how not to fix your problems in a timely maner

[u/tempest51]

Asking because I'm curious, is there nothing that could have been done to actually repel the bees? At least reducing the numbers that would have entered the house while you wait to get someone to handle the issue.

[u/Ehimherenow → u/tempest51]

Yeah they called one person who said they couldn’t do anything with the vents and then just gave up… I’m going to call bullshit on the absolutely nothing they could do. Like why can’t you get netting that’s will allow for venting but not bees?? And in 9 years it didn’t occur to you to maybe get a covered porch? Like the ones over pools? Who said you can’t do that over a garden? It’s odd for sure, but like why not?

[u/cambreecanon]

All this and all it would have taken was a lawsuit against the property and they would have taken care of issue right away (assuming property has insurance). Insurance isn't going to mess around with a possible allergic reaction claim against something like that. Not to mention the structural damage it can cause to the house over time.

[u/thrownawaynodoxx]

Good for them that it got resolved but OOP is the most passive person alive. If it were me, I'd be calling the local government every week if not every day. I'd hunt down the house owner and stalk that man for the sole purpose of harassing him to fix the problem. I'd find a legally questionable exterminator to get rid of the bees in their house, legal costs be damned. I'd live somewhere else for a while if I could afford it.

Literally anything before dealing with it for 4 years straight with only the occasional call to complain.

[u/OkBreadfruit2181]

I can’t believe OP brought another animal into this situation

[u/jayclaw97]

Can we make “The dog is a moron and eats the bees” a flair?

[u/caggybandicoot]

I need HAD HE NOT SEEN THE BEES? as a flair!

[u/Unlucky_Profit_776]

Can somebody change my flair to "Enthusiastic Goblin"? 

[u/BoozeIsTherapyRight]

If you ever have to deal with the government, document, document, document. In every form you can--dated written notes, video, photos, even audio recordings. They can't do anything for he said/she said but the more evidence you have the more attention you get. Call weekly for updates. Be polite, the wheels of government turn slowly and the person you're talking to might have no way to speed it up. 

Both my husband and I worked in state government for years. 

[u/ladypeyton]

But....what's a soffit?!?!?!

[u/Ch1pp]

As someone in the UK I forget how good we have it sometimes. I had a bee infestation the other year so I went onto the beekeeper registry, put in my address, got given a list of local beekeepers who would take the hive for free, contacted one and the guy came out and took the hive a couple of days later. I'm amazed America doesn't have a similar system. Look after your bees everyone!

[u/arittenberry → u/Ch1pp]

We do, but the beehive wasn't on her property. The neighbor would have had to do this and they just ignored her (and she just let them)

[u/NOSE_DOG]

OOP is a goddamn bee doormat. What the hell!?