An Inverurie mum has issued a warning to homeowners after she found her kitchen was infested with bees.
Pamela Miller, 41, urged Aberdeenshire residents to check any nooks and crannies in their homes as bee season gets into full swing.
The mum-of-two couldn’t hide her shock when she entered her kitchen to find her windows, lights and floors invaded by the insects.
After the critters made their way into her home through the chimney and cooker hood, she is now forced to run her marketing agency, Abfiftyone, with noise-cancelling headphones due to the buzzing noise.
Speaking to the Press and Journal, she told of her shock after finding them her walls, lights and even floorboards.
Bees snuck in through out-of-use chimney
She said: “I noticed them looking out of our en-suite window, there was a huge clump of bees crawling up the chimney and flying around.
“I was getting ready to go to a gym class, I walked into my kitchen and I just said ‘what the hell?'”
“From there they must have flown down into my cooker hood, which has been promptly taped up.
“I really didn’t know what to do. I had never seen the like of it before.
“The beekeeper has already been, but we still have the problem, so he is coming back on Saturday to catch what is left and put netting up.
“I think they have just crawled in the chimney, because they are in our walls, they’re in the chimney, in-between the floorboards in the house – and even in the lights in the kitchen.
“I can hear them pinging about in the light fixtures while in my home office, they’re literally everywhere.
“To be honest, I’m just glad it is not spiders – bees are not my worst fear, I’m not allergic thankfully.
“But obviously you start to fear the worst – I was starting to think to myself ‘how quickly do they start making honey and honeycomb? Will I need to get my roof taken off?’
“But we have been reassured that’s not the case, so that’s good.”
Inverurie mum’s advice to bee on your guard
Pamela has now urged homeowners to be extra careful as the summer months approach.
She also shared her advice to those in her position who might find themselves with uninvited black and yellow striped visitors as it gets warmer.
“Our chimney doesn’t go to a fireplace, but just because it doesn’t go to anywhere it doesn’t mean it can’t get in,” she continued.
“Now that’s them into my walls and the loft from coming in through cooker hood.
“I would be looking into any kind of open chimney that you may have, and placing down netting would be a good idea.
“The 10 years that we have been here, we have never had to think about this – but we have read up on it now and we know to walk around the house looking for wee gaps.
“It’s good to look under guttering and roof tiles, and if you notice them swarming I’d definitely get on to your local beekeeper.”
Conversation