CINCINNATI, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Two residents of Green Township, Ohio, say their family home was infiltrated by up to 70,000 honey bees.

Susan and Doug Hayes said while they have had problems with bee swarms around their home since 2007, they were unprepared to learn tens of thousands of them were residing within their home's walls, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Saturday.


"I love nature, bees are important to our ecosystem" said Susan Hayes, whose home underwent a thorough bee removal at the hands of beekeeper Bill Jones. "It breaks my heart that I destroyed their home, but they were destroying mine."

Jones was unable to simply exterminate the invasive insects since honey bees are considered endangered.

Using a so-called bee-vac machine that sucks the bees into a box without injuring them, Jones was able to clean out the house's walls.

"It's not the biggest job we've ever done," Jones told the Enquirer of the nearly $2,800 bee removal. "But, it is the most intense, because they went behind the chimney."