Imagine settling into a new home, getting comfortable, and suddenly being bombarded by deafening, unidentifiable noises coming from the walls. This one lucky Tennessee family had the shock of a lifetime…
Huh, That’s Weird…
How would you react if you started hearing sounds coming from the insides of your house? This Tennessee family had to experience just that. Mere days after they moved into their new home, the family started to experience abnormal sounds coming from the walls.
Questions Arise
We have all heard horror stories of squatters living in-between the walls and in attics of new houses. At this point, the family had nothing to rule out and the risk that this creature presented to the family was of paramount importance…
Weirder and Louder
The family theorized that there must be some small animal, or animals, trapped in the wall. After all, it was winter in Tennessee, and it gets pretty cold in high elevation areas. Although, with no proof, they were plagued with the mystery behind their walls…
Tension Wavers
For some reason the family decided to simply ignore the sound. Probably assuming that the winter would kill whatever was in the wall, or it was so stressful they just chose to ignore it. Either way, they were wrong. The unidentifiable noise got louder and louder, forcing the family to take action…
Could Be Bugs?
Over time, the family was able to rule out whether the noise was coming from an animal. Based on the distribution of sound, they theorized that it had to be coming from insects.
Bug Bomb Blunder
At a standstill with their options, the family decided to make a DIY bug-bomb and hope for the best. They detonated the bomb in the house, evacuated for a few days, and when they came back they were shocked at what they found…
Reevaluating Their Situation
The noise subsided for a few days, but as the winter came to an end, the sounds came back stronger than ever.
Hiring A Professional
After exhausting all their options of doing the deed themselves, the family decided to hire a professional to investigate and diagnose their persistent pest problem…
David Glover, Pest Control Expert
Enter, David Glover! Pest control specialist, and amateur beekeeper. David confirmed that the pests within the wall were insects, although he couldn’t determine what the insects were without a little creativity.
Up His Sleeves
David is a seasoned professional, he was never stumped by a project before this one. He found no entry and no exit for the bugs in the wall, he couldn’t find a method of accessing them either. Although, he did make one shocking discovery…
Searching For An Opening
David found a “weep hole,” which is typically a result of a house settling, and water seeping its way into the mortar thats holding the bricks. Weep holes serve as openings for drainage if water finds its way behind the brickwork of a house. In this case, the weep hole served as an opening to see what was really behind the wall.
Discovery #2
David then discovered another gap between the kitchen window and the brickwork. The gap was incredibly small, but could potentially have allowed passage for a creature to enter the house…
Thermal Mapping
To avoid cutting directly into the wall and potentially aggravating whatever was in there, David employed the use of his infrared camera. The discovery was… HUGE to say the least.
Size Matters
David had never seen a foreign mass this large. Consequently, he had to rethink his entire strategy to exterminate whatever was in this wall. Time has become a concern, the object seemed to be growing in size and volume rapidly…
A Smoking Gun
David decided to use one of the oldest pest control strategies; using natural wood smoke to chase whatever was in the wall out! Since he still had no idea what this creature was, and how it was surviving inside the wall, David had to take major precautions in approaching the problem.
Try, Try, and Try Again
Much to everyone’s disbelief, the smoking method did not work. David had a major hunch that the object was insects, although he did not have any proof. With his back against the wall, David deployed some non-lethal, natural insect repellent inside the wall…
Seizing the Opportunity
David saw a reaction to the bug-repellent, he took this opportunity to remove a brick. He deduced that the only way he would be able to deal with this infestation was to remove portions of the wall until he could safely remove the specimen.
Brick by Brick
Chipping away at the mortar aggravated the mass, but David was so far in, there was no turning back. Very carefully, David removed the brick…
A Protective Shell
The object had been there for so long, it had fused with the inside of the wall. David took it upon himself to chip away at the object, very slowly, very carefully, David revealed the object.
Some Kind of Nest?
David exposed the outside shell of some kind of nest, although he could not determine what kind of nest it was until he cut into it, David slowly unveiled what had been bothering this poor family for so long…
THE BEES
THE WALL CONTAINED AN ACTIVE AND SURPRISINGLY HEALTHY COLONY OF HONEY BEES!! David’s job wasn’t over yet though, he still had to figure out what to do with it…
What A Hive
David uncovered the largest naturally occurring beehive he had ever seen. They were completely non-threatening but INCREDIBLY loud.
5 Layers of Brick
David had to remove 5 whole layers of brick to expose the hive enough to move it, he could barely uncover the whole thing without having to remove brick all the way up to the window!!
Time Well Spent
David decided he wanted to save the beehive, after all if they could survive everything they had been through, they could live long happy lives under his supervision.
This Beehive Was HUGE
This is the actual beehive after the bricks had been removed, it appears that the bees had started underneath the window and moved down. If you look closely, you can see them “bearding” on the window pane. This is a defense mechanism to protect their queen.
An Ageless Hive
David remarked about how old the hive could possibly be. He could not give an estimate, it could have been anywhere between 2 and 10 years old!!
Healthy Hive
David found thirteen capped queen cells! He even found a virgin queen, which is incredibly bizarre. Given the circumstances, these bees should not have been half as healthy as they were.
Making Space for More
David could see that the bees had been rapidly expanding, he deduced that they pollinated before the family moved into the home, and they huddled together for warmth and safety all winter, with their massive honey reserves.
Dead Bees
David found a large number of dead bees on the ground to the left of the hive. This was a result of the bug bomb that the family set off when they first noticed the problem. Fortunately, none of the honey, and more than 3/4ths of the bees survived.
Relocating the Hive
David relocated the hive to his property, he reserved the residual honey from moving the combs, since it was springtime there would be some more soon.
The Lasting Effect
This is the imprint leftover from the hive, can you imagine what the next homeowners will think when they discover this?