Florida Couple Finds 80,000 'Nice' Bees in Their Home's Shower Wall amid Bathroom Renovation
How's Your Day Honey/Facebook
This is something you have to see to bee-lieve!
A Florida couple recently learned that they were in a sticky situation when a seven-foot-tall beehive holding an estimated 80,000 bees — and 100 lbs. of honey — was uncovered behind a shower wall in their home during a bathroom renovation project, according to the New York Times.
Stefanie and Dan Graham of St. Petersburg, Florida, said that they removed a beehive near their shower several years before this discovery and continued to spot the insects inside their home afterward.
"We both really love nature, and we love bees," Stefanie told the Times. "We're like, 'We'll leave you alone. You leave us alone.' They were nice bees. So we were like, 'Sure, go ahead, live in our shower.' "
So when the couple recently decided to update their bathroom, they called in a professional beekeeper, Elisha Bixler — who runs the bee-centered company, How's Your Day Honey — in case any of the insects were uncovered during the project. The Grahams were shocked to find that the bees they had spotted in their home belonged to a hive of thousands.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
RELATED: What's the Buzz? These Celebrities Are Part-Time Bee Keepers!
After arriving at the Graham home to take care of the bee situation, Bixler told the Times that she used a thermal detector gun to locate the hive, which "showed that the temperature was around 96 degrees." The measurement, the outlet noted, "was typical for a hive."
Breaking away at the walls within the bathroom, Bixler discovered how serious of a bee situation the Grahams had. "As soon as I saw where they were, I started breaking away the tile and unveiling this massive seven-foot hive," she said. "Most of it was honey."
Bixler sorted through the bees — a process which the Times noted took more than five hours and came at the cost of $800, which was not covered by insurance — and was able to find the queen bee, who she put in a protective cage and placed inside a box with the other bees.
"That makes all the bees go into the box with her," Bixler explained to the outlet. "She wants to be back in her wall. She thinks that's her home."
The Times reported that Bixler then used a "special vacuum" to remove the leftover bees from the hive before taking the insects to her farm. She will later relocate the bees to different apiaries in the area, where the insects won't be bothered by renovation projects.
