A family in Tennessee has embraced the fact they have bees in the walls of their house by taking on a new hobby and learning beekeeping.
Marilyn Maines and her husband Lee recently discovered they had unexpected houseguests making a home within the walls of their Roane County residence.
READ MORE: Wind blows ‘basketball-sized’ beehive on to Arizona mom’s head, reports say
Turns out the insects are actually honeybees, and have been coming and going through a hole in the wall about 20 feet up from the ground.
Maines and her husband decided to contact a local beekeeper to get some advice.
“Ron Woody is the bee whisperer,” Maines told the news station.
They decided to investigate further by cutting into the drywall to get a better understanding of what, exactly, was going on.
READ MORE: Doctors remove 4 bees found living under woman’s eyelid — they survived on her tears
“My husband takes the Sheetrock off, and there was huge honeycomb on the Sheetrock, which you know, was totally unexpected,” the woman said.
They decided to cut a large section of the drywall, exposing a floor-to-ceiling gap, then closed it off with plexiglass, giving the family a view of their honey-producing friends.
Maines told WBIR News her five granddaughters are thrilled with the project and they enjoy watching the insects.
“And my oldest granddaughters, the first night we did it, they came over and spent the night — slept right there,” the woman said. “Their mother was like, ‘Oh my God,’ and I was like, ‘Shut up. They think it’s the coolest thing,’ and it is.”
Maines said the bees have already started to produce honey, noting “that’s as local honey as you can get when it comes out of your wall.”
Maines said she will be taking a beekeeping course at the local university to hone her skill even more.