SAGINAW, MI — It sounded to Crystal Parker like an enormous droning insect was hovering above her home.

In reality, thousands of honey bees were swarming above her Saginaw residence Sunday, June 1, as Parker and her family hid inside, desperate for a solution.

Parker had 60,000 to 70,000 bees living in a maple tree in her front yard, according to Toby Sewell, owner of J&T Beekeepers. On Monday, Parker contacted Sewell about the problem, and he was able to inspect the site, noting that thousands of bees had devoured the inside of the tree.

"Saying there were a lot of bees would be an understatement," Parker said.

After trying and failing to deal with the bees on her own, Parker said she hopes Sewell will be able to remove the bees. Sewell said he's dealt with bee colonies of this size dozens of time and that he has a plan to get the bees away from the neighborhood.

On Wednesday, June 4, Sewell built a beehive replica adjacent to the bee's base of operations. After sealing all but one entrance to the tree, he utilized lemon grass and honey scents to pique the swarm's interest. The hope is that the colony will be lured into the structure and can be moved to a safer location, though Sewell said this could take up to 45 days.

After installing the bee box, Sewell informed Parker that additional boxes would be needed over the coming weeks to transport the bees away from the home. While Parker said the entire process is expected to take up to two months, she feel safer for her family and the neighborhood kids.

Upon purchasing her home in 2012, Parker and her three boys noticed bees occupying the tree. While they were never aggressive before, Parker said they've been especially active this spring. As a result, Parker has been forced to often keeping her kids inside, away from the swarm.

Her first solution was store-bought bee foam to seal and destroy the hive. Sewell told her that they had not only eaten away the inside of the tree, but they had managed to chomp their way through the layers of foam.

Sewell said Parker's reaction was fairly typical. Upon coming in contact with swarms of similar sizes, he said many simply try to kill the bees with poison instead of contacting professionals.

"As long as you don't bother the bees, they shouldn't bother you," Sewell said.

Without help from her insurance company or the city, Parker turned to social media. After posting her conundrum on Facebook, she was connected to the beekeeper.

Despite fearing for her family's safety, Parker said this has been a learning experience. While she knew about the pollinating role of bees, Parker never knew just how essential the honey bee is in agriculture.

Sewell noted that if bees disappeared tomorrow, somewhere between a third and a half of all foods we consume on a daily basis would disappear. Even though wind can result in cross-pollination of plants, bees are able to increase crop outputs dramatically, according to Sewell.

Incidents like this aren't uncommon in Sewell's line of work. Despite the intimidating noise and sheer size of their swarms, he said honey bees are not aggressive unless their territory is disturbed. Sewell hopes that he can move the bees to his site to pollinate crops as well as to generate honey.

Sewell said removing the bees from Parker's yard is a win-win for both parties. While Parker and her neighbors will no longer be under the threat of bee stings, Sewell plans to keep the hearty insects, which can cost up to $100 dollars for around 10,000 bees.

Once the bees are gone, Parker still has to determine what she'll do about the hollowed-out maple tree left behind. She said the lowest estimate to cut down and remove the tree is $1,600.

RJ Wolcott is a reporting intern for MLive/The Saginaw News. Contact him at 989-280-3850, or by email at