FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- A Fort Pierce woman says bees have made their home underneath her trailer, and that their take-over might leave her homeless.
“I just need somebody to come get them, kill them whatever. Just please rid them. They’ve got to go,” Kathy Shampo said.
Shampo has lived in a 55+ community along Tangerine Avenue for nearly ten years. Only six months ago, she says she started noticing some bees near her window. A closer look revealed potentially thousands living underneath her home.
She worries for her safety. “It’s scary because I’m allergic to them.” She says her dog, lucky, has been stung and she can’t afford a vet bill.
She says the bees are also threatening the structure of the trailer, causing the floor to weaken. “You can feel it and you can hear them,” Shampo said.
After Shampo claims she’s called nearly six bee keepers, along with the city and the property owner, she says she fears she is out of options.
She can’t afford the cost of removal. Her cheapest quote, she says, is hundreds of dollars.
“If they make their way through the floor… I can’t afford to move. I won’t have a place to live and I’ll be homeless. I’m too old to be homeless.”
A West Palm Beach based bee-keeper says the situation will likely only get worse until the bees’ nest is completely removed.
Kathy says she kills the bees she can, but experts say they will only keep returning until the nest is gone.
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UPDATE: Our sister station in West Palm reports that actor Tony Danza is stepping up to help Kathy Shampo pay for the removal of the bees.
