Residents at South Austin apartment tormented by bees
AUSTIN, Texas - A woman on Anita Drive in the Zilker West neighborhood said a swarm of bees has moved into her doorway making it almost impossible for her to get in and out.
Ivana Coleman said she has called pest control, but they told her they cannot do anything without permission from her landlord and he seems unwilling to hire anyone.
“I want to be able to get into my apartment without being afraid of being stung. I want to be able to peacefully sit in my apartment without a swarm of bees flying in, or the risk of it, because now they're even coming through my front door,” said Coleman.
Ivana said she and her neighbors reported the problem to their landlord in March, but, months later, neighbors said he is still convinced he can solve the problem himself.
“I don't know how affective that's been like I said it's getting worse,” said David Overholt who also lives at the apartment building.
At this point, Ivana is afraid to walk through her front door.
“It's finally gotten to the point where they've been getting more and more aggressive. I actually injured myself this morning crawling out my window since the bees were completely blocking my exit way,” Coleman said.
Neighbors said they've already been stung on numerous occasions.
“I've gotten stung three times actually,” Overholt said. “It's getting worse and worse. If anybody's allergic in the neighborhood, kids walking by, it could be bad. And us, we have to navigate this swarm of bees everyday it seems like,” he added.
David and Ivana said they are out of ideas.
“They're ending up in my apartment. I've had swarms of them inside, I've had to remove them myself, we've tried calling 311,” said Coleman.
Although they've tried contacting 311, the fire department and professional bee removal companies, neighbors have been told without the landlord's permission, there's nothing they can do.
“I took a lot of different avenues, but it all leads back to the landlord, and he's got to be willing to either call somebody or do something and, so far, not so much,” said Overholt.
FOX 7 Austin tried to speak with the landlord, but he refused to comment.
Neighbors said his ideas include putting a box outside for the bees to move into, adding a bamboo fence to interfere with their flightpath and sealing off the door jam. None of which has worked.
“We don’t want to kill the bees, we need the bees, but, for everyone’s concern and happiness, I think it can be done professionally and much quicker than what we're experiencing,” Overholt said.