Family discovers their home is a giant beehive after honey drips from the walls

A family was shocked to discover their home was one large beehive after noticing honey dripping from the walls.

Kate and Andrew Dempsey, who live with their two daughters in Folkestone, Kent, found huge six-foot pieces of honeycomb under their floorboards and gallons of honey.

The couple had previously spotted some dark spots on their walls but assumed it was just damp.

But when they noticed “black goo” dripping down their bedroom wall and a sweet smell in the air, they decided to investigate further.

Of the incredible find, Kate, a diversity and inclusion consultant, said: “We had never seen anything like it. The sheer volume of the hive was huge.

“We kept cutting away these planks and more and more honeycombs came to light.

“The smell hit you straight away. It was this sweet smell and we’ve had this really disgusting smell for ages – [I just felt] disbelief really.’

The couple were told it would cost them up to £10,000 to hire a company to clear the hive, so decided to tackle the problem themselves.

With some help from friends, they managed to remove all the honey, which wasn’t always easy.

At one point, a swarm of “robber bees” swooped in to try and claim the sweet stuff.

Kate said they first noticed the honey on the walls last year’s hot summer.

“It got to the point where we couldn’t ignore it anymore. I smelled it and tasted it and it was honey.

“We saw bees when we moved in, but they disappeared and we had the house repainted.

“I had no idea what was going on.”

They went into one of their daughter’s rooms, which is above hers, and threw back the carpet.

“These giant maggots started crawling out of the floorboards.

“We decided to pull up the floorboards and see what was going on. We found an old beehive and it was almost composting, lots of moths came out.

“We started pulling more and more, it just didn’t seem to end, it was absolutely gross.

“We pulled up this huge honeycomb, two meters long.

One morning – in the middle of cleaning up – they woke up to find the room was full of bees.

“We called local beekeepers for help and one came to check – he said they were predatory bees and had come to the nest to steal the honey.”

Robber bees is a name used to describe honey bees that invade other hives and steal their honey.

Kate said they continued to find honey in other parts of the house, including the roof.

“You can imagine the mess. It was horrific,’ she said.

She added: “I was really concerned about the extent of the damage that could have been caused. I have no idea [how long it was there] but it would have taken a long time.

“It took us about four weeks in total to remove all the honey, but we were all very keen to do our best not to disturb or kill the bees.”

Has your house ever been invaded by a bizarre insect invasion? Have you found something weird and wonderful under your floorboards?

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