CHESTERFIELD, Va. -- Something is abuzz on Sutters Mill Road in Brandermill. Each April for the last three years a hive of activity explodes right outside Kevin and Terri Collins’ front door.
“It’s in the tens of thousands. It’s got to be,” says Terri Collins. “They are in control. We are not.”
Bees.
And lots of them, are digging deep into their Chesterfield property. The bees climb into hundreds of holes.
“Their population got pretty big pretty quick,” says Kevin Collins. “It is unnerving to say the least.”
For a month and a half the uninvited insects make life unbearable.
“I run in from the car as fast as I can,” says Terri Collins.
Apparently, the swarm of bees knows its boundaries too. The swarm of black and yellow chooses only the Collins address.
“I know. It is the weirdest thing and I can’t put my finger on it,” says Kevin Collins.
Relieved neighbors are perplexed as to why the bees don’t migrate.
“Well, it gives me the willies. They’re mainly active this time of day. At night they’re quiet,” says neighbor, Andy Boisvert.
While the invasive insects look menacing, bee expert, John Adams with Bee Busters says their buzz is worse than their bite. He calls them mimic bees.
“They fly around and enjoy life,” says Adams. “You could lay right down in the middle of it and there would be very little chance that you would get stung.”
For now the homeowners are leaving them be and choosing not to spend thousands on expensive and potentially harmful chemicals.
“They’re here. I’ll try to roll with it as best I can but I don’t want them taking over my yard,” says Kevin Collins.
For Terri Collins, she would like nothing more than to kick the bees out for good, but she is not holding her breath.
“They’re taking over. Next year it might be their house.”
Bee expert John Adams recommends that homeowners with similar bee problems plant a garden, dump mulch and line the yard with plastic or use chemicals.
Adams says the best advice is to practice patience with these types of bees because they will die in about a month
