Beehive, 8 feet long, is removed from someone’s apartment

"Complaints of bees flying out of an apartment's duct work led to a frightening discovery Monday in Virginia: An 8-foot-long hive was in the living room ceiling, including 100 pounds of raw honey."

A pest control company in Richmond, Virginia claims to haves removed an 8-foot-long beehive from someone's apartment.

From the AP roundup of local news coverage in Virginia:

Virginia Wildlife Management and Control said in a statement that they removed the hive from the ceiling of a living room in Richmond on Monday. The space was in between tenants at the time.

The company said the hive produced about 80 to 100 pounds of honey, although only about 15 to 20 pounds was able to be salvaged. Rich Perry, owner of the wildlife control company, told The Charlotte Observer that the hive was big enough to support 100,000 to 150,000 bees. But he said it wasn't fully occupied

Perry said it was extremely unusual to find such a large hive inside a building. He said the hive of Italian bees was likely to be at least 2 years old. He said the bees probably got in through holes in the siding and found a home between rafters and sheet rock.

The company has a no-kill policy on bees, but they weren't able to find the queen, so the hive wasn't saved. Very sad.

Here's the original story in the Charlotte Observer:
" 'Humongous' bee hive in Virginia home's living room ceiling held 100 pounds of honey

[PHOTOS courtesy Virginia Wildlife Management and Control]