Experts said the best way to prevent bees from infiltrating your home is to seal any holes or crevices that they could use to get inside.
FULSHEAR, Texas — A Fort Bend County homeowner said he has been living in fear for more than two weeks after discovering a large number of bees nesting at his house.
Darrell Murphy, who has lived in his home in Fulshear since it was built in 2022, said he first noticed the bees in early June, buzzing in and out of the crevices between the brick walls near his front porch. He described the sight – and the sound – of the bees, as overwhelming.
“It’s just like a humming sound, hmmm, just humming, just humming,” Murphy said. “It’s all I can think about. I haven’t had breakfast. I can’t eat. I’m just on pins and needles.”
Murphy shared cell phone video showing bees crawling in and out of the wall. He said the swarm became aggressive earlier this week, and surveillance video provided to KHOU 11 shows him and a contractor sprinting to safety while assessing repairs needed for his home.
“It was very scary. When I saw a swarm of bees in the sky coming toward me, I never ran so fast in my life,” Murphy said. “I can’t leave my garage door open. I’m afraid to open my front door. I’m afraid for my wife to come outside.”
Christian Martinez, an account manager with ABC Home & Commercial Services, is part of the team working to remove the hive.
“Judging by the amount that’s flying in and out of there right now, there could be thousands of bees,” Martinez said.
He explained that bees only need the smallest gaps to infiltrate a home.
“They are looking for the most tiny crack to get in, and in this case, it is between two brick walls, maybe a centimeter wide, and that is more than enough for them to be able to get in,” Martinez said.
Martinez said the only way to prevent this from happening is to take proactive action by sealing any holes in the walls of your home. But if bees do start to nest inside the walls, Martinez added that the only solution is to call a company to locate and remove the hive.
“We’ll have to get a borescope, a tiny camera, in the cracks to find and locate as to exactly where that hive is, and the goal in any bee removal job is to locate and remove the hive,” Martinez said. “In this case, since it’s between brick walls, we’ll have to remove the bricks.”
KHOU 11 asked if there is anything homeowners can do on their own to handle a bee infestation, while they wait for professionals to come and address the issue, such as using traps or sprays.
“Anything that you could spray, or we could spray, or anyone could spray would only agitate them and put you and your family at risk,” Martinez said. “To be completely honest, I would say, I would stay away as best as we can, and that way we can ensure to keep your home, and most importantly your family, protected.”
ABC Home & Commercial Services is set to begin the bee removal process at Murphy’s home this Thursday.
Murphy said the crevices in between the brick walls of his home were already there as part of the new home build. KHOU 11 reached out to the home builder to ask about the construction of the home, but did not hear back as of Wednesday night.
KHOU 11 also wanted to ask: how can you tell if the bees nesting inside the walls of a home are more dangerous than just average bees?
Experts said to watch how they react. If you swat at a bee and it begins to follow you or speeds aggressively toward you, that could be a sign the bees are more defensive — and potentially more dangerous. Martinez said that might be the case for the infestation at Murphy’s home.