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Beekeeper generates lots of buzz after removing giant hive from behind brick wall

Posted at 1:15 PM, Oct 04, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-04 13:15:06-04

GERMANTOWN, Tenn. - A beekeeper is going viral after a wild bee extraction from a Tennessee home.

David Glover, also known as the Bartlett Bee Whisperer, said he got a call about the home last week.

“I go and get bees from places where people don’t want them and relocate them," he told WREG. “To get them out of the house we had to remove the bricks.”

The first brick removal gave him a clue with the small bit of honeycomb that showed through. And then one by one, he removed all the bricks, revealing the biggest single honeycomb he's ever seen.

"Holy crap! It’s like, this thing’s huge! I don’t see solid pieces of comb that large. I see smaller piece glued together,” Glover said. "Eventually when you take the support off the wax, the wax will fall. And it wasn’t [falling]!”

He said the hive had probably been there for two years. He grabbed his phone and started sending and posting photos.

“Saturday morning my kids are going, ‘Dad do you know what you're doing? You’re going viral!’” he said.

The original Facebook post has been shared more than 100,000 times since it was first posted last weekend. He said he's heard from fans and media as far away as Poland and Australia.

But his greater mission is to save bees like the ones he took off the wall. He moved them to a colony in his backyard. He hopes they integrate with the colony already there and make honey by next year.

"One-third of what we eat comes because of pollination. 85 percent of the plants in the world exist because of pollination: the fruits, vegetables, things we eat because of pollination," he said.

Glover said he always offers educational classes for students and small groups at Shelby Farms.