A woman was invited by her sister to stay with her in her house since their home state was ordered to shelter-in-place.
And although anything was better than self-isolating inside a dorm, her sister’s invitation had a catch.
The sister of Redditor “throwawaybeecausesis” is a beekeeper hobbyist and planned to move her bee colony into the house.
Why would she do such a thing? Because her pandemic paranoia led her to believe she would protect the bees against the virus.
But the Original Poster (OP) refused to sleep next to the guest bathroom where the sister planned to relocate the hive.
To foil this course of action, the OP did something that incurred the wrath of the entire family.
“Throwaway because the last thing I want is more drama during quarantine,” wrote the OP, and apologized ahead of time if she messed up “any bee terminology.”
“I’m not a beekeeper, annnnd my sister’s hobby-turned-obsession has put me off basically for a lifetime.”
“It all started when the shelter-in-place came down in my state. I didn’t want to stay confined to a dorm, and since my sister has a house, I was happy to crash with her when she offered.”
“Here’s where it gets messy.”
“My sister is a beekeeper as a ‘hobby.’ It’s never bothered me before. But when [virus] started spreading in our city, my sister started to get paranoid. Not paranoid about OUR health, mind you, but the health of her *bee colony.*”
The OP’s sister began getting paranoid with a legitimate concern.
At first.
“First she was afraid that predatory animals might come in and disrupt her bee colony to get the honey (I guess they’re getting bolder with less people outside).”
“Then it got weirder.”
“She started telling me that she was worried her bees might get [the virus]. She said that the virus started in bats, so who was to say it wouldn’t infect her bees?”
“I thought she was joking at first, but it became clear that she wasn’t.”
“That’s when she started talking about bringing her bee colony INSIDE the house. More specifically, MY BATHROOM.”
“She asked me if I would be comfortable not using the guest bathroom and using her bathroom instead… because bees.
“Like any reasonable person, I told her hell no. It sounded terrifying to have a room filled with bees attached to where I was sleeping.”
“Especially because there’s no evidence to suggest that her bees are in any danger in the first place??”
“If I had known I was going to be rooming with a literal bee colony, I NEVER would’ve left my dorm in the first place.”
“Besides, why couldn’t she keep them in HER bathroom?”
The setup for accommodating the bees inside the house was quickly underway.
“She then brought me netting to drape over my bed (she called this a compromise’), and removed the shower door to make space for the bee colony (yes, seriously).”
“I started to panic, of course. I felt like my only option was to somehow get rid of the bees before they moved into the bathroom.”
“So a few nights ago I went and knocked over the hive house/box thing with a broom and then ran like HELL. I figured I could blame it on one of the animals.”
“And at least by knocking down her hive, they would scatter and go someplace else rather than being killed.”
“Well, she figured out it was me. She said that if it had been an animal, the animal would’ve tried to take the honey and rifled through the hive… instead it was untouched.”
“So she can logic her way through that, but still thinks bees can get [the virus]. Okay.”
The OP is now paying for being reckless.
“Now she won’t speak to me. Worse, she emailed (EMAILED!) to tell me that I have to find someplace else to stay, AND I have to pay for the damage to the hive, and she CC’d my dad and stepmom on the email.”
“The entire family is now furious with me.”
“I get that what I did wasn’t exactly nice, but AITA [Am I the A**hole]?”
Anonymous strangers on the internet were asked to share their opinion by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
- NAH – No A**holes Here
“YTA for sure. You don’t like your sister’s… ‘pet,’ lets say, so instead of saying ‘no, i’ll go shelter in place at MY residence,’ you said ‘i’ll sabotage living, endangered creatures.'”
“She’s correct, and YTA! You owe her an apology, and the money for repairs.” – lagelthrow
But those with knowledge about the well-being of bees were abuzz and said that they are meant to thrive outdoors.
“To be fair I think she saved the bees. They wouldn’t have survived in a bathroom without access to plants outside.”
“Nor would they serve their purpose for the planet. And she didn’t kill them she knocked the hive over which I bet they went back to.” – 11132K
“Yeah, as a guy who grew up on a farm with 6 beehives. You don’t put them inside. They aren’t like ants where you can have them in a glass container.”
“Theirs a small chance they didn’t go back like 1% but they most likely went back to the hive. I’ve never had a hive swarm on me even if an animal knocked over a hive. I just picked it back up and things were fine.
“They NEED to be able to fly and while they could do that inside a bathroom they would leak out and sting people as they would view them as a threat to the hive.”
“Why can’t people leave things that are perfectly fine outside stay outside. If you want to help them put out some sugar water to get them started.” – Millennials_RuinedIt
Considering keeping bees was more of a hobby, the sister’s intentions based on lack of research would’ve done more harm than good.
“Putting aside the fact that bees can’t get [the virus]. If the window is open how does having the hive inside protect them from [it]?”
“I agree OP is an a**hole but i’m not sure OP’s sister wasn’t going to kill the bees with this plan out of ignorance.” – agprincess
That still didn’t exonerate the OP from her egregious endeavor to sabotage the bee colony.
“Agreed OP is TA but the sister really needs to read up on her hobby.”
“She should have never considered putting them inside the house and it saddens me to think that she could still endanger her hive if she proceeds with her plan to ‘save’ her bees.”
“This should have been discussed, show her information such as research on transmission between viruses and insects (I think that may have saved the whole situation as research and education triumphs over ignorance).”
“If logic could not prevail THEN OP should have made plans to move out.”
“It seems like both parties were being hardheaded, not sure if this is due to some other factors.”
“OP certainly doesn’t seem to respect their sister’s house and hobby which is a shame because they’re integral to our food system. Save the bees, OP YTA.” – broady1247
There’s another reason why bees don’t belong in your home.
“Some honey bees got inside my parents house and built a hive in the walls.”
“The honey literally ate away the wall and they only had a soggy mess left of an outside, load bearing wall.”
“Thousands and thousands of dollars. There were other ways to convince sister not to bring the bees inside.” – raremadhatter
An expert weighed in.
“Friendly neighourhood pollination ecologist here! The world needs wild bees, not the European Honey Bee.”
“They are an introduced agricultural animal in North America, like cows and chickens. Honey bees are not in any danger of extinction–wild bees are.”
“OP’s sister is not helping with wild bee conservation by keeping a backyard hive. In fact, those introduced honey bees could be outcompeting (actually endangered) wild bees for pollen and nectar and spreading disease to them.”
“You’re worrying about the wrong bees: https://www.wired.com/2015/04/youre-worrying-wrong-bees/“
“*Steps down off bee soapbox*” – gameofknowns
The documentary NOVA: Bees – Tales From the Hive is available here.