HOUSTON
Most folks probably think Texans would have a simple way to handle a major insect infestation: Kill them varmints.
But officials at the University of Houston are bucking the stereotype when it comes to a colony of up to 100,000 bees that have taken up residence inside a classroom building.
They’ve hired a beekeeper, who was scheduled to gently and humanely relocate them on Wednesday to a better home on a wooded part of campus.
Although no one has reported being stung yet, school officials said they couldn’t take any chances.
“You can imagine you’re trying to take your exam and for whatever reason the bees decide they’re going to swarm,” said Alex Alexander, the university’s director of custodial and grounds. “That kind of disruption we couldn’t allow.”
Workers first noticed a cluster of bees buzzing near the top back corner of the three-story engineering building about six months ago, Alexander said. They tried spraying the mass with water, and soon enough the bees disappeared.
