At least someone is living in them

It's better than the 30,000 Burmese pythons which have also invaded Florida.

Maybe they are making some honey to sweeten up the deal on a new home...

I like my house like I like my coffee - COVERED IN BEES!

Ah, Florida, you are always filled with crazy stories.

Some beekeeper is counting him/herself lucky and racing over to pick up that swarm right now, I bet.

The reason there are no owners or banks is because it's an elaborate bee hive the beekeeper next door built.

He should really learn to keep his daughter away from the hive, though.

here's an interesting revenue opportunity for towns facing budget crises. seize the house under blight laws & sell it. don't have blight laws? maybe it's time to look into enacting them.

Hey wait, are these the same bees that were infesting that RV from a few months back? I think these are bee's for hire!

Honey bees don't just attach hives randomly to the outside of structures where they would be exposed to the elements and wandering bears. More likely this is a swarm just resting before they continue on to find a permanent home.

Whenever we have stories about foreclosures, there is always a line about the difficulty involved in finding the actual owners. Does this mean that there are going to be serious issues with titles in the next few years? Are we going to start hearing about people buying foreclosures suddenly having to give them back when it is discovered that they accidentally bought the property from someone who wasn't the owner? The title insurance people are going to have a fun time....

It does not surprise me...Florida needs to fall into the sea.

I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.

Beeware of buying a foreclosed home in Florida.

I thought that we had a problem with bees mysteriously dying off. Since they're so important to our ecosystem, the fact that they find a nice, safe place to live, it's a win-win for everyone. Right?

But seriously, if you are that worried, just go down to the local hardware store, buy some poison, wait until nightfall, and spray the crap out of the place. Probably cost you maybe $30, and your daughter will be safe.

Wow, that house is TORE UP. No wonder it foreclosed.

EVICT THIS, BITCHES!!!

Burn it down. Problem solved.

@SpaceBat_GitEmSteveDave: I was wondering about that rv the other day.

When I moved into my new home in Southern California it took us two months and three visits from Terminix to remove the bees. They found a crack in the outside wall and set up shop. Even after having the place tented we still had problems with the bees.

Looks like they're swarming. (Hanging out while scout bees look for a good spot to build a new hive.) European honey bees are very docile when they swarm. They're full of honey from the old hive & don't have a home to defend--only the queen.

(Of course, if they're Africanized, all bets are off.)

If I lived in St. Lucie I'd be bottling up some sugar water & racing on over there. Free bees!!!

Maybe an entomologist can move in there and make them a career project.

@thegirls: Yeah, I was thinking that too. I guess now we know where all the bees have gone.

Perhaps we could somehow train the bees to attack the pythons?

@bonzombiekitty: came for the Eddie Izzard, left satisfied. =D

These are probably Africanized bees -- they were in the last story about the house with bees in its walls in Florida.

@bonzombiekitty: I like my coffee like I like my women. Hot and sweet. But the order always gets screwed up, and I get cold and bitter.

@Jeangenie: I doubt it. In the story, the gentleman said they chased his daughter and her friend. If they were Africanized, they would have been in the hospital, as IIRC, they will chase for something like 100 yards.

For once, I'm going to ask a serious question. Don't these communities with foreclosures have enforceable laws that require the owners to keep them up. It seems these houses go into foreclosure and then they just decay for a year at which point they're garbage. If a community requires upkeep and the owner (individual, bank, speculator) ignores the upkeep, then the community should be able to fine the bejesus out of the owner or take possession. An ignored house that's 3 months old is still salvageable. After a year, it's pretty worthless.

GOB: BEES?!

@johnfrombrooklyn: So you want to fine the already failing banks, who will then get a bailout of your money. Seems the only winner would be local government then.

If the bees are swarming, they are relatively harmless. However, if the bees decide to setup a hive there, then that's where problems can arise.

On another note, maybe Nicholas Cage would be interested in purchasing this house:

Anyone figured out what is preventing some people from replying to posts? I use firefox or IE, and when I click a reply "loop arrow", it merely takes me to the top of the page...only on Consumerist. Any other website works fine.

I used to live down there. If the city wasn't so concerned about chasing out the blacks, Hispanics, other unwantables, etc.. thinking they will lure in high tax-paying white folks maybe someone would be living there and taking care of it. Instead of helping the poor they ignore the fact that people just aren't moving to Florida now.

@Canino: Years ago, we had a hive that set up residence in a false wall next to our carport. Every so often, they'd swarm around the small hole around the entrance just like in that picture.

They never "chased" us though. They were there for about three years, less than six feet from our car, and the only time either my wife or I got stung was when one got caught in my hair.

Getting rid of them was expensive.

@Plates: There's a reason fark has a Florida tab.

(Yay! I can reply! For the moment anyway...)

@bonzombiekitty: I like my coffee like I like my women. A latte.

That precisely happened to me a couple of weeks ago. Now the foreclosures are everywhere here in South Florida, We went to a foreclosured home, and when I noticed most of the windows of the second floors had TONS of dead bees at the windows, as I approach the balcony, I see outside under the roof a massive beehive and it seemed like it was inside the wall. I had a friend of mine that told me that is a bitch to remove those beehives if they go inside the walls.

@Saboth: Check the URL for the page. If there is a "#" or anything else after the last word, delete that extra stuff, then hit enter. That has cleared up any problems I have had.

In Phoenix, home foreclosures are leading to mosquito problems... because no one is taking care of the pools. And the mosquitoes are spreading West Nile.

I'm glad I live in Washington where our foreclosed homes just mold and return to the earth after a short time. The only problem is keeping the meth heads out of them until they can decay far enough.

@AndyMan1: I like my women like I like my coffee...hot, and with a spoon in them

@SpaceBat_GitEmSteveDave: After watching Bee Movie, I wouldn't have the heart to spray them with poison. Isn't there some way to, you know, gently shoo them away?

Now, is that shit-ton metric or imperial?

Weren't bees' numbers declining in CA recently? Can we get some of these freeloaders out to the poor almond farmers?

@thegirls

The problem is probably that the bees are africanized. Florida has a BIG problem with africans. The bees, not the people, maybe the people too, who am I to speak, but definitly the bees, although i'm sure they'd rather a bunch of african people moved into the neighborhood. Me, I've got an irrational fear of bees and of africans, this is like my worst nightmare.

/stream of conciousness

@Plates: As Tim Henson says, "It's our most fuc*ed up state!".

That's weird. My parents are fixing up a foreclosed house and my mom says there are hundreds of bees living in the trees there. It's so loud that you can hear a hum when you are inside with the windows open.

@rockasocky: Watch "The Savage Bees" or "The Swarm"