Behind the Walls

When the right-sized home went on the market in the right neighborhood in Skippack, Pennsylvania, Sara Weaver and her husband purchased the 1872 farm house without an inspection. And while the interior of the home seemed oddly dirty, in this booming house market when homes are selling for $100,000 above the asking price, buyers often don't have the luxury of pausing to ask questions.

Yes, the seller included an odd comment about "bees in the wall" on disclosure documents, but the Weavers thought little of it when they made their purchase this past winter. But as the weather warmed and their live-in tenants began to complain of occasional bees in the house, the Weavers discovered the home needed more than just a little TLC: They found 450,000 honey bees living in the walls of their home.

The Weavers hired Allan Lattanzi, a general contractor and experienced beekeeper, to remove the bees, and Lattanzi estimated that the bees had been living in the walls of the old farm house for at least 35 years. With months of careful, painstaking work, Lattanzi successfully relocated the three colonies to Yerkes Honey Farm, the farm where he raises honey bees. The largest colony was the size of the entire staircase, and Latanzi had to remove the wall in order to access the bees and locate the queen; he used a thermal imaging camera to look inside the wall and determine how large the colony was.

Lattanzi told the Weavers that he had visited the home four years prior for a similar complaint, but the owner at the time was not able to afford the $12,000 bill for removal.

"The bees were docile for a colony that has been in there for a while," Lattanzi said. "Normally when I pull a slate tile off a house, I'm instantaneously covered in very defensive bees attacking me, but most of these girls were pretty docile -- throughout the entire process I may have only gotten stung five or six times."

Despite the headache, the Weavers say they would purchase their dream farmhouse all over again.

What surprises-behind-the-wall have you discovered in your life, and who have you called on to help with the clean-up?

James reminds us that the trials of life produce endurance, and endurance leads to deeper character: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you" (James 1:2-5).

Sometimes our bees are dormant, sleeping through the cold of winter and lulling us into believing that they are no longer there, and other times they awaken and startle us with their magnitude and persistence.

"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him," James continues (James 1:12). Much as the Weavers' farm house will never be the same, having endured the horrors of discovery and then reconstruction, how have you been transformed by the trials in your life? Are you able to embrace the story and -- better yet -- describe to others how the Lord has transformed you because of the experience?

Blessings on your week,

Jennie