Family chased out of home by bees

The family has been dealing with this problem for five years and now it's to the point that they have been run out their home.

Walking through the front door of the home on Pleasant Stream Drive in Katy and saying, 'Honey, I'm home!' would actually be a cruel joke.

"I don't worry about it," said resident Andy Ackley. "I just go out the back door."

Just last night Ackley used a red tile scraper to scratch off honeycombs from the front porch ceiling. Honey bees have set up camp at this home five years ago and they haven't left yet. Three treatments and more than $2,000 later, they are still stinging.

"(I've been stung) several times," Ackley said. "Mowing the yard, walking out the door, yelling… Any noise, they don't like it."

The infestation is so concentrated it has now become a problem for other neighbors, who've been stung walking to the mailbox. Kids have been ordered to only play in the back yard and pretty soon animals will also have to avoid the area.

"There was a bird out here stung to death -- a blue jay, stung to death," said neighbor Karen Evans.

The bees have actually chased Ackley, his girlfriend and her three kids out of the house.

Evans said, "They managed to get in there last night during the night and get some of their possessions and they have been staying with me."

With peak season approaching exterminators' fingers are getting sticky. Just last week they removed a 40 pound honeycomb.

Ricky Jones with All Bugs and Bees explained, "That queen pheromone is soaked into the honey and honeycomb. So if you don't remove the honey and honeycomb, in one to three years the next swarm that flies by will just moving and pick up where the other ones left off. "

In the meantime Ackley is only using the back door, as a recent exterminator set them back a bit.

"The last time was $1,000," he recalled.

The bee expert we talked to says homeowners need to make sure the exterminator completely removes the honey and honeycomb. Once that is done, seal any openings on the exterior of your home through which the bees might have entered.

As for the Katy family, they tell me right now they have run out of money to spend and contacted their insurance company about the issue, but we're told it's not covered. So on days when the bees are really swarming, they still stay at a neighbor's house.