HOUSTON – In Houston's Almeda Plaza neighborhood sits a house that may look vacant, but inside it's buzzing with activity.
The house is the former Almeda Plaza Civic Club clubhouse along Knotty Oaks Trail. It has been vacant for the past several years and in that time, tens of thousands of bees have made it their home.
"We don't know where they came from, but they just started coming," said resident Beulah Maxie.
She has lived in the neighborhood for decades. On Wednesday afternoon she watched as crews from Gotcha Pest Control suited up and got down and dirty to make the bees disappear.
"Oh I'm so grateful," Maxie said. "I'm like a kid on Christmas!"
Houston City Council Member Larry Green helped organize the removal after hearing about how the bees have plagued the neighborhood for years.
Claude Griffin of Gotcha Pest Control says the house could have up to a million bees inside. He says crews found hundreds of honey combs with 500 to 600 pounds of honey.
"You just have to get in there and get nasty," Griffin said. "You have to give it all you can give it."
Griffin said the bees are killer bees and they'll be buzzing across Houston between now and around September. He also said it seems they become more aggressive each year.
"I think the bees are just getting crafty and daring," Griffin said. "They're getting in further and further and further."
He says it will take a few days for the bees to clear the area. Once they do, Maxie says the neighborhood will tear the vacant house down and hopefully rebuild.