Swarm of bees buzz for the last time at North Babylon home

A swarm of honey bees that chose a North Babylon home for a hive are moving upstate, courtesy of a beekeeper who removed thousands of the insects from inside walls of the residence.

The bees had found gaps around pipes outside the home that weren't sealed properly, climbed inside behind the sheetrock of a closet, and began building a honeycomb in the walls, said the home's owner Stylianos Karas. He could hear bees buzzing behind the wall, Karas said, and they generated so much heat that the walls were warm to the touch.

“A few weeks ago my wife noticed a few bees flying around the garage area and I didn't think anything of it,” Karas said. “Within a day or two there were hundreds of bees just kind of swarming around this area right outside the front door and that's when I realized, 'OK there's probably a problem here that we need to get resolved.' ”

Karas called in Anthony Planakis, a retired NYPD officer and current beekeeper who runs a business, Tonybees Apiaries, which removes bees from homes.

“I didn't want to imagine them coming in,” Karas said.

Planakis said he used a thermal imaging camera to peer behind the wall to see the bees. He said about 12,000 had started building their hive in the walls.

“I knew that it was a new swarm that just got in there,” Planakis said. He said it was important to remove the hive before the bee population got even bigger.

He cut through the wall to make a hole beneath the nest and began to use a special vacuum to collect the bees.

The gaps in the walls make a perfect opportunity for bees to get in, he said. New houses may be sealed but after they settle, gaps can open up which “gives you an opportunity for them to come in.”

The bees were removed on Tuesday.

Planakis said another beekeeper took them to a new home in upstate Orange County.

According to the state Department of Agriculture and Markets The main swarm season on Long Island begins in late April and continues through June as colonies form and bees reproduce, with a smaller swarm season running in late summer and early fall.

The department maintains a list of registered beekeepers who catch and remove swarms, said spokesperson Hanna Birkhead.

“Healthy honey bee colonies swarm to reproduce,” Birkhead wrote in an email. “Swarm season on Long Island begins in late April with swarms occurring in May and June.”

With Cecilia Dowd and Joan Gralla