WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — With spring approaching and temperatures warming up, we’re going to start seeing a lot more honey bee activity. And after this weekend’s fatal bee attack in Throckmorton, killing one man and hospitalizing his wife, bee experts are urging residents to take the proper steps, when discovering a hive or swarm.

Curtis Jackson met up with Matthew Scheer on a call for a hive found underneath a camper, and when Scheer located the hive, he immediately jumped into action relocating tens of thousands of bees.

Scheer said to be aware of your surroundings while outside, and if you come across a large swarm or hive, “leave it alone. If you come across a swarm, a swarm will be a ball of bees in your tree or on the eaves of your house. They’ll ball up when they’re leaving their hives, and their hives are splitting,” Scheer said.

Scheer said when a hive gets too big, the bees will split off into two groups in search of a new location to build a new hive, something that Scheer says could be difficult to spot at first.

“Usually, you can watch them if you have a small opening in like the eave of your house, or a lot of time, if have a brick house, they’ll go into the cracks in your windows where the brick splits. They’ll go in there. You can stand back and watch without disturbing them and see them, they’ll come in and out, and they’ll have pollen on their legs,” Scheer said.

Which is exactly how this hive was built underneath this camper off Seymour Highway.

“I shined a light up in there and I saw some bees but I didn’t realize it was going to be as big as it was once I got torn into it, it’s a pretty big hive,” Scheer said.

Big enough that Scheer had to bust out the big guns.

“I had to go get a vac, a bee vac, and go get tools to do more tear out a lot has to come out,” Scheer said.

And Scheer has to do all of this while remaining as calm as possible.

“As soon as you bust into that hive, that queen is going to try to run. You want to try to be calm, and try to do it as gently as possible,” Scheer said.

The bees that Scheer removed today will be relocated to his farm, while the landowners now have peace of mind thanks to Honey Bee Preserves.

Scheer said if you do discover a large swarm or hive, you can contact him anytime. He actually does swarm removals for free. For more information on Honey Bee Preserves and the services it provides, call 817-845-1675.