Beekeepers find 100,000 bees inside dilapidated property. Here's how they removed them

After exposing the bee colony by cutting away a portion of the plaster and lathe ceiling, Swazey Farms beekeepers Feliciano (left) carefully vacuums bees from a piece of worker bee-covered comb with brood as Nicole Mazzitelli (right) holds the comb. Photos: Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

A plain-clothed beekeeper was stung about a dozen times while removing nearly 100,000 bees from the second floor of a dilapidated South Jersey home on March 12.

That’s a scene from Swazey Farm’s annual charity bee colony removal, where swarms of workers and one queen were removed and preserved to raise awareness for the plight of honeybees, which have been dying at record rates in Pennsylvania, South Jersey, the United States, and beyond for decades.