JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Thousands of bees infiltrated a second-floor apartment on West 14th Street in the city’s Mid-Westside neighborhood, and a bee expert believes there may be a massive beehive inside one of the concrete walls, according to the tenant.
On Tuesday, a News4Jax crew saw a swarm of bees flying and crawling outside the apartment. On the inside, there were bees -- some dead and some alive -- in the windows and on the floor.
The tenant, Eugene Hodges, said this has been a growing problem since March.
“Over time, since March, all the way up until now, they have produced thousands. The guy that came yesterday pulled at least 30 to 40 thousand out the wall, which filled four or five crates,” he said.
Hodges said when he spoke with a bee expert that visited on Monday, he was told there possibly a beehive within the cinderblock wall of his daughter’s bedroom.
Prior to that professional assessment, Hodges said his daughter first noticed the bees flying from under her bed.
“We found out four days ago they were coming through the floorboard. We thought it was cracks in windows and around the room. Sealed everything, and she kept saying they’re flying from under her bed,” Hodges said. “So I moved the bed, and one crawled right in front of me from the baseboard.”
Lifestyle Rentals owns the property, so News4Jax called them to find out why it’s taking so long to finally rid the apartment of bees but got a voice recording. Since it was after 5 p.m., News4Jax was not able to speak to a property manager.
In the meantime, Hodges said he and his family have lived in this apartment for the last five years and are now waiting for the bee expert to eventually come back to hopefully do what it takes to rid the apartment of bees that continue to come inside.
After seeing the bee infestation close up, News4Jax contacted the city to see whether a city official could help Hodges. News4Jax was told that because the property is privately owned, the best it could do is send out a code enforcement officer who could determine whether the apartment is safe to live in.
Hodges said that although the place is very affordable for him and his family, if code enforcement deems the apartment to be unsafe, he will move out.