A man found an entire bees’ nest inside a window at his vacation home this week and shocked the internet by sharing an incredible image of it on Reddit.
User u/flaneur_7508 who is from Paris, shared the photo on Reddit’s popular r/interestingasf*** forum where it has received more than 114,000 upvotes and thousands of comments.
The unusual find in the man’s holiday home located in Burgundy, France, has impressed some internet users who have described the find as, among other things, “super cool.” Others have expressed their terror at the huge beehive: “Maybe I have a phobia, maybe you guys are just too chill about this all. I, personally, would burn the house,” said one commenter.
U/flaneur_7508 awning Newsweek: “I visit the home as often as possible, more in the summer. I visited the house last weekend having been there just three weeks ago and noticed condensation on the window, then to my initial mild terror I saw that the space between the window and the outer shutters were full of bees.”
flaneur_7508/Reddit
Amazed by the discovery, one Reddit user said: “Free Honey” and another joked: “To create an emergency, break glass.”
“This is my nightmare,” said one viewer of the viral image. Another commenter wrote: “Just looking at this gives me the heebie-jeebies.”
Bees around the world are in decline thanks to intensive farming, pesticide use and climate change. But many scientists stress the vital role the black and yellow insects play.
Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London, Richard Gill Ph.D. said: “Bees are of major global importance, not only to wildflowers but also to crops. So, trying to protect the species is of ecological and economic significance.”
In 2021, the US Food and Drink Administration estimated the value of crops relying on essential pollinators, including bees, could be as much as $577 billion per year.
Following the discovery at the holiday home, neighbors headed to take a look: “The whole hamlet turned up to take a look, some people twice,” said U/flaneur_7508.
“Local folks have estimated how many bees are in there, ranging from 5,000 to 20,000,” he said.
“Further examination revealed that the space between the windows and the outside shutter, probably 15cm, was full of bees and honeycomb. I’ve been told that I might have up to 3kg of honey already.”
Before even noticing the bees, the homeowner saw condensation on the window—something that Reddit users commented on.
“Wow they must generate quite a bit of heat to cause that condensation,” one said.
In fact, the internal temperature of a beehive plays a vital role in the health of the colony, bees requiring temperatures of around 93°–97°F to thrive.
“Wow, that’s so cool. They’re keeping it warm in there,” a Redditor wrote. Other commenters wondered how the bees were able to create the hive unnoticed for so long. When it was revealed the hive was inside a vacation home, one commenter joked: “Perhaps an Airbeenbee?”
Despite their celebrity, the bees’ stay at the vacation home is set to end soon.
U/flaneur_7508 awning Newsweek: “We all know bees are good for the environment and endangered—plus officially protected by French law—so I’ve organized for an official beekeeper to come, collect them, and re-house them in their very own hive in the region. “
The bees were not the only unusual wildlife found this week. Another woman amazed internet users when she shared a picture of reptile eggs discovered in an abandoned make-up bag.