Houston woman finally rids herself of bees living in her walls for years

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- There's no mistaking the buzz coming out of Maude Mack's walls, and the 76-year-old says she's tired of it.

"I'm very happy and thrilled to know that I'm getting the bees out," she said.

Mack has lived in her house off West Orem near Hiram Clark for 45 years. The last few years, she had some unwanted house guests.

The bees in her walls got so bad, the yard guy stopped coming to mow the lawn. Finally this week, with the help of District K City Councilmember Martha Castex-Tatum's office, bee expert Walter Schumacher came to the rescue.

"Feral honey bees are trying to exist alongside of us," said Schumacher, who runs the nonprofit American Honey Bee Protection Agency. "We go where they're unwanted and take them to places where they're wanted."

In the searing Texas heat, workers cut and scraped out the beehive from Mack's wall. In all, between 70,000 and 80,000 bees were removed. They will be relocated to the small town of Porter, where they will be welcomed.

Schumacher says any honey collected will be sold in a few local stores, with the funds going toward relocating more honey bees throughout Texas.

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