Honey bees moved into the roof at 316 Main St., and Newtown Beekeeper Jeff Schwartz worked to remove them Wednesday.
Schwartz was dressed in serious bee armor, including a hood and veil, long sleeves with tight cuffs and long pants with tight cuffs. He dismissed any worry about being stung. It happens, he said.
One challenge is the bees took up residence under the shingles on the third-floor roof. The homeowner hired roofers and Schwartz to unearth the honey bees, who moved in sometime in 2012.
"It's nice when you can do it at ground level," Schwartz said. Wednesday's work involved climbing a long ladder and then balancing on the corner of the third-story roof.
After collecting about half the hive, Schwartz realized he wasn't dealing with an entire honey bee hive.
"They must have swarmed earlier in the year," Schwartz said. He found no queen in the hive and few worker bees. "It looks like just drones and honey."
Once he realized it wasn't a whole hive, he worked on pulling out the honey, which would certainly have attracted any number of animals if left behind.
"We have to remove the honey," Schwartz said.
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